Historical Documents - Office of the Historian

No. 1.

Decrees of Benito Juarez.

MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS AND GOVERNMENT—DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT—SECTION FIRST.

The citizen President of the republic has seen fit to issue the following decree:

Benito Juarez, constitutional President of the United States of Mexico, to the inhabitants thereof:

Be it known, that in exercise of the plenary powers conferred upon me by the national congress, through its decrees of December 11, 1861, of May 3 and of October 27, 1863; and whereas,

Firstly. In articles 78, 79. 80, and 82 of the federal constitution, treating of the period of the functions of the President of the republic, and of the manner of his substitution, provision has been made for a new election of a President, but which, in fact, has not been verified, inasmuch as said provision did not anticipate existence of a state of war, such as the present; and, moreover, as the enemy at the present moment occupies a great portion of the national territory, it is impossible for a general election to be constitutionally held at, the ordinary periods.

Secondly. That in those articles of the constitution providing for a substitue for the President of the republic in the event of a vacancy, it was provided to confide the executive power of the presidency to the president of the supreme court of justice, to act in the only case foreseen, during the interim, until a new election could be had according to the constitution.

Thirdly Inasmuch as it is impossible for an election to be held on account of the war, and as the president of the supreme court, were he to enter upon exercise of the functions of the executive office, would do so for an indefinite period of time, it becomes necessary to extend his powers beyond the limit prescribed by a literal construction of the constitution.

Fourthly That by the supreme law of necessity for the conservation of the government, the prolongation of the term of office of the President and of his substitute would be more conformable to the spirit of the constitution inasmuch as it would avoid possibility of the government being without a head, or the creation of rival functionaries, operating one in the absence of the other; and, moreover, because conformably to the popular vote the President of the republic was elected, primarily and directly, to exercise the functions of [Page 314] the executive, while the president of the supreme court was elected, primarily and directly, to exercise judicial functions, those of the executive being intrusted to him, secondarily and ad interim, in the case of absolute necessity.

Fifthly And considering that the present case is not provided for in the constitution, and the interpretation of the provisions and spirit of the constitution belongs exclusively to the legislative power, and that the law of December 11, 1861, confirmed by repeated votes of confidence by the national congress, has invested the President with power not subjected to ordinary constitutional rules, by which he possesses plenary power to do and perform all acts which he may judge proper during existing circumstances, unrestricted save as to the salvation of the independence and integrity of the national territory, of the form of government established by the constitution, and of the principles and laws of reform—

It has pleased me to decree as follows:

Article I In the present condition of the war, it becomes necessary to extend, and are hereby extended, the functions of the President of the republic beyond the time ordinarily limited by the constitution, until such a period at which the executive government can be turned over to a President duly elected at an election, which shall be held Whenever the condition of the war shall admit of its being held constitutionally.

Art. II For a like reason it becomes necessary to extend, and are hereby extended, the functions of the person who holds the position of president of the supreme court of justice, beyond the time ordinarily limited by the constitution, in order that, should a vacancy occur in the presidency of the republic, he may be enabled to fill it as substitute.

For all of which I order this to be printed, published, and circulated, that force be given the same.

Given at El Paso del Norte this eighth day of November, in the year 1865.

BENITO JUAKEZ.

The Citizen Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada.

Ministry of external relations and government–Department of government–Section first.

The citizen President of the republic has seen fit to issue the following decree:

Benito Juarez, constitutional President of the United States of Mexico, to the inhabitants thereof:

Be it known, that in exercise of the plenary powers conferred upon me by the national congress, through its decrees of December 11, 1861, of May 3, and October 27, 1862, and of May 27, 1863; and whereas,

Firstly. The citizen General Jesus G. Ortega thought proper, in July of the year 1863, to assume the office of governor of the State of Zacatecas, and abandoned in San Luis Potosi the office of constitutional president of the supreme court of justice.

Secondly. For this reason, following the precedent of congress, which, owing to the vacancy in the constitutional presidency of the court, had created provisionally a president of the court, the government at the city of Chihuahua, under date of November 30, 1864, declared that it was necessary that the citizen General Ortega should continue in his capacity as president of the supreme court of justice

Thirdly. The object literally expressed in that resolution was to avoid possibility of the government being without a head, and gave to the citizen General Ortega a definite and recognized title, so that in the case of a vacancy in the presidency of the republic, he could enter upon its duties as substitute.

Fourthly. Not being contrary to this motive, as he could fulfil his duties in any part of the republic, government conceded to General Ortega on the 30th of December, 1864, a license, which he prayed for on the 28th, to proceed and bear arms in the cause of independence within the interior of the republic, with the privilege expressed in the license, according to his solicitation, as well of going direct through Mexican territory as of passing in transitu through a foreign land.

Fifthly. General Ortega departed accordingly, and, nevertheless, despite the express tenor of his license, and in the place of passing in transitu, has resided permanently in a foreign country, without license or permission so to do, and in this wise abandoned his office of president of the supreme court of justice, under the grave circumstances of an actual state of war, at a time when serious casualties have happened, and still may happen, by some of which the government may suffer the inconvenience of being without a head; yet, in expectation of his return, it was not deemed advisable to name another president of the court, who, in the event of a vacancy in the presidency of the republic, might assume its functions as substitute.

Sixthly. In addition to responsibility, incurred through official vacation of his post as [Page 315] president of the court, he has likewise violated the rules of good order, inasmuch as, holding a position as general, he has gone to reside permanently in a foreign country, during continuance of a state of war, and thereby abandoned the cause of the republic, its standard and army.

Eighthly. Considering that the government can and ought to declare this responsibility, with the power and ample functions delegated to it by congress, not in opposition to, by applying a just remedy in necessary cases, according to the provisions of the constitution with regard to public functionaries—

I decree as follows:

Article I. The citizen General Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, inasmuch as from his having taken up a permanent residence in a foreign land during a continuance of actual hostilities, without license or commission from the government, has rendered himself responsible to a charge of official dereliction, in voluntarily abandoning his office as president of the supreme court of justice; that, when he presents himself upon the soil of the republic, the government will make such dispositions as will establish his guiltiness.

Art. II. The government, employing the plenary powers delegated by congress, and applying article 104 of the constitution, declares that cause exists to proceed against the citizen Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, and that, when he presents himself upon the soil of the republic, a judicial inquisition will be had against him for a crime against good order, for that, while holding the position of a general in the army, he has resided permanently and voluntarily in a foreign land, during continuance of hostilities, without license from the government, thereby abandoning the army, its standards, and the cause of the republic.

Art. III. Conformably to precedent, established by congress, the government, in exercise of its plenary powers, will nominate a president of the supreme court of justice to serve as a substitute to the president, should a vacancy occur prior to the time when the office shall be turned over to his successor, constitutionally elected, as soon as the state of the war will permit an election to be held

For all of which I order this to be printed, published, and circulated, that force be given the same.

Given at El Paso del Norte this eighth day of November, in the year 1865.

BENITO JUAREZ.

The Citizen Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada.

Protest of the citizen Jesus G. Ortega, president of the supreme court of justice of the Mexican republic, against the decrees issued by Don Benito Juarez, on the 8th day of November, 1865.

The impolitic and disgraceful act consummated by Don Benito Juarez, in issuing, through your official hands, the decrees of the 8th of November last past, has placed me in the painful position, aware of the circumstances surrounding the political situation of the Mexican republic, of protesting before and in the name of the nation against the subject-matter and import of those manifestoes:

Firstly. For that they are against the express provisions of the political constitution of the republic, and are consequently arbitrary, illegal, and void of effect.

Secondly. For that they create a dictatorship, to be wielded by Benito Juarez, who can, at his option, supersede one of the federal authorities, sovereign and independent, whose functions have been recognized by the vote of the nation, in this wise destroying a republican principle, and the basis of legal order—that is, the form of government established by the constitution.

Thirdly. For that they are contrary to the spirit of the powers delegated to the executive by the national congress, which to-day, notwithstanding the existence of a war with France, declared, while making the concessions contained in the decree of December 11, 1861, whereby authority of every nature was conceded to the executive to institute, unrestrictedly, such measures as might be considered apt and proper under the actual circumstances, that such powers were to be exerted with a sole view of preserving the independence and integrity of the national territory, the form of government established by the constitution, and the principles and laws of reform Moreover, the law of October 27, 1862, imposed a positive restriction that the executive could do nothing contrary to the provisions of Title IV of the constitution, which provides that the President has no power to declare if cause exists against any public functionary—a restriction conceived and set forth with the aim of precluding possibility of the President abusing his power to the detriment of constitutional authority.

Fourthly. For that the decrees aforesaid seriously compromise the independence of the nation, robbing its defenders of a legitimate government, which alone can serve as a rallying point for united patriotism, and substituting in its stead an illegal usurpation, with no more force in authority than that of the unconstitutional decrees now issued.

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Fifthly. For that the tone of those decrees is insulting to the Mexican people, battling for principle beneath the constitutional banner, as from a perusal of their text it may be inferred that blood, spilled by thousands of patriots and martyrs, had been outpoured with no other object than for the defence of the person of Benito Juarez, and that, without the salvation of this individual, the cause of Mexico would be hopeless.

Sixthly. For that the statements set forth in those decrees are not only founded upon sophistry, but contain calumnies affecting my personal and official character.

The obligations of the solemn oath assumed by me as constitutional president of the supreme court of justice, in accordance with the letter and spirit of the constitution, have been so far observed by me in full faith, as well as with a regard for the popular rights secured the nation by that instrument, as the nation, when again recovering full exercise of its privilege, must hold all functionaries to a strict accountability.

Eagle Pass, December 21,1865.

JESUS G. ORTEGA.

Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada.

The citizen Jesus G. Ortega, constitutional president of the supreme court of justice, to the Mexican nation.

Mexicans: Don Benito Juarez has issued, at El Paso del Norte, on the 8th day of November last past, through the intermediation of Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, acting as minister of relations and government, two decrees—in one extending the duration of his own powers, and in the other divesting of authority the president of the supreme court of justice. Although alleging two separate pretexts for this last decree, it has been issued with the sole and exclusive aim of arrogating to his personal action the election of the vice-president of the republic, a person who, by the express terms of the constitution, is entitled to and should succeed to the exercise of the supreme executive power on the 1st of December following. There is nothing singular in this step of the Señor Lerdo de Tejada, when his past political career has been called to mind. It must be remembered that he was one of the persons participating in the coup d’état of Comonfort—a bloody page in the history of Mexico, which excited the scandal of the world Returning to the soil of my country, whither I had been drawn from promptings of honor and duty, and where I had to come to fulfil the duties of the office which I had received, not from Benito Juarez, but through the spontaneous expression of national confidence, the first spectacle which greeted my vision was its genial horizon lowering over a blood-stained country, strewn with the ruins of a political edifice previously raised at so dear a cost. There were presented to me two decrees, foreshadowing the gloom of the future. Beneath their shadow I perceived anarchy and disorder, an outrage upon the Mexican people, another scandal in our political history, as the inevitable consequences of acts reprobated by morality and experience, the deeds of men who have prostituted the law into a means to serve their personal ambition, instead of administering it for the public good. They revived the painful reflection that Mexicans, treasuring confidence in the purifying influences of republicanism, had deceived themselves when they had hoped that ignominy had forever disappeared from their midst, leaving behind it but a melancholy memory of previous misdeeds.

My first impression was to postpone all action for the benefit of my country, for which I would have spare I no sacrifice, whatever may be its magnitude. My public career, heretofore without stain, is the clearest testimony of the truth of my sentiments. Two expedients presented themselves whereby to extricate myself from my cruel position. The one was to remain mute, saying not a word against the illegality of these decrees, immolating myself upon the altar of my country, retiring to some foreign land, so that the friends of legality, of popular right, of constitutional privilege, should have no other banner to rally around than that set up in this arbitrary manner. The other was to protest against these decrees, leaving national rights intact, yet not to erect a new standard, for this might generate a fresh and imprudent scandal. Neither was I willing to absent myself, for such a desertion would militate against principle Had I followed the first suggestion, I would have abandoned rights, not my own, but those of the people, transmitted to me through their votes; I should have shirked fulfilment of the oath taken before the national congress, and avoided performance of the duties of my official position, substituting in their stead a modest shame; I would have abandoned the straight road and turned aside into another, whether for good or evil, but which assuredly was not the pathway of duty and honor. Moreover, it would have resulted in leaving the country without a legal government, without which it would have been impossible to have made head against a colossal enemy; it would have authorized a fresh attack upon the dignity of the law, without which it is hopeless to anticipate a permanent establishment of the republic and of national tranquillity.

In adopting a second course, I would fulfil my duty and demonstrate to the nation that [Page 317] I was not a party, either tacit or active, to the blow inflicted upon constitutional rights; I would show to the world that the errors of two men were not those of the nation, whose interests are derived from a more elevated origin—interests which Mexico has defended for the last ten years; and, finally, I would place myself in a position before my country capable of defending my conduct. Neither did I believe that persistence in silence would better the military condition of the war Consequently, I determined upon this last line of conduct, and directed to Don Sebastian de Lerdo de Tejada the protest against the unconstitutional decrees to which I have alluded.

ARTICLES OF THE CONSTITUTION.

Art 78. The President shall enter upon the functions of his office on the first day of December, and continue for the term of four years.

Art. 79. In the temporary absence of the President of the republic, and in the interim before his successor qualifies, the president of the supreme court of justice shall enter upon and perform the duties of that office.

Art. 80. If the absence of the President be absolute, a new election will be held, in accordance with the provisions of Art. 76; and the President in this wise elected will perform his functions until the last day of November of the fourth year from the time of his election.

Art. 82 If, from any cause whatsoever, the election for President is not held and published by the first day of December, by which time the vacancy should have been filled, or that the candidate elect should fail to enter upon the performance of his duties, the term of the previous President, nevertheless, ceases, and the supreme executive power, during the interim, will vest in the president of the supreme court of justice.

Art. 94. The members of the supreme court of justice, upon entering upon the functions of their office, shall take an oath before congress, or, in the event of its adjournment, before the permanent deputation, in the following form: “You do swear loyally and patriotically to fill the office of magistrate of the supreme court of justice, which the people have conferred upon you, conformably to the constitution, and regarding only the welfare and prosperity of the union.”

Art. 95. The office of magistrate of the supreme court of justice can only be renounced for grave causes, (por causa grave,) qualified by congress, unto whom the renunciation must be presented, if during its adjournment the qualification shall be made by the permanent deputation.

Title IV.—Responsibilities of public functionaries.

Art. 103. The deputies of the congress of the union, the magistrates of the supreme court, and cabinet secretaries, are responsible for malfeasance in office, and for the derelictions or omissions which occur during their continuance in office. The governors of States are equally responsible for infractions of the constitution and federal laws. So, also, is the President of the republic; but during his term of office he can only be accused, on charges of treason against the country, of express violation of the constitution, of attacks upon the elective franchise, and of criminal offences of the common order.

Art. 104. If the crime be of the common order, congress, acting as a grand jury, will decide whether there be cause to proceed against the accused. In the case of a regular decision, no ulterior proceedings can be had. Should the decision be affirmative, the accused will be suspended from office and subjected to the action of the ordinary tribunals.

Art. 105. In cases of malfeasance, congress will act as a jury of accusation, and the supreme court as a tribunal for judgment

The jury of accusation will declare as to the guilt of the accused by a majority of votes. If the accusation be absolved, the official will continue in the enjoyment of his office; if sustained, the offender will be immediately divested of office, and placed at the disposition of the supreme court. This court, erected into a tribunal of sentence, in the presence of the criminal, the public prosecutor and the accuser, if any there be, shall proceed to pronounce, by a majority of votes, the penalty which the law provider.

Art 106. Judgment pronounced for responsibility as to in defeasance, no pardon can be granted the transgressor.

Art. 107. Responsibility as to malfeasance can only be exacted during the term of the offender’s office, and for the period of one year thereafter.

Art. 108. In demands of a civil order, there is neither process nor immunity for public functionaries.

In according extraordinary powers to the executive, by reason of the state of war, congress, in its concessions of the decree of October 27. 1862, imposed an express and definite restriction that he should do nothing contrary to the provisions of title IV of the constitution. Hence it can be readily surmised that congress had other objects in imposing this [Page 318] restriction upon the executive beyond the mere conservation of constitutional order, in placing the high dignitaries of the state beyond reach of presidential attack. They evidently feared that, were unlimited power placed in the hands of the executive, he might proceed against some functionary, and in this wise produce internal disorder, as Juarez has done in this instance, contrary to the provisions of the constitution, through abuse of the powers accorded by congress, and to the manifest prejudice of public decency.

According to article 95 of the constitution, “the office of magistrate of the supreme court of justice can only be renounced for grave causes, (per causa grave,) qualified by congress, unto whom the renunciation must be presented, if during its adjournment the qualification shall be made by the permanent deputation.” A sufficient answer to this consists in the fact that I have not renounced the office conferred upon me by popular suffrage, nor has any grave cause been urged against me to reader such a step advisable, and consequently no qualification has been made by either congress or the permanent deputation.

I have quoted the preceding provisions of the constitution, so that from a perusal of their text the enormity of their infraction is apparent, and not with a view to exhibit the utter worthlessness of the pretensions upon which are based the decrees of November, which attempt would be an insult to the common sense of the general public.

In the decrees of Juarez, and the circular accompanying them, he has sought to furnish a sample of logic and explanation of our constitutional law. To these puerile expedients he has had recourse, for want of better reasons to support his assumptions Neither as a Mexican, nor as a magistrate, do I wish to discuss this point; the nation will adjudicate upon the simple narration of fact. I would it were within my province to reveal all; it would vindicate my conduct and place Juarez and Lerdo in no enviable or patriotic light; but national interests demand my silence.

The coup d’état of Comonfort, in 1857, caused Don Benito Juarez, then chief justice of the supreme court, to enter upon the executive functions of the Union Legal order established after three years of civil war, congress met in 1861, and there being no person legally entitled to assume the functions of the presidency of the republic, in the event of a vacancy, by reason of the president of the supreme court of justice having entered upon the duties of the chief executive, an election was held to supply the vacancy in the order of succession to the presidency, and in accordance with that design I was elected to the presidency of the supreme court ad interim. About that period I had been elected, by the popular vote, governor of the State of Zacatecas.

After assuming the prescribed oath of office, as president of the court ad interim, before the national representatives, I proceeded a few days thereafter to the city of Zacatecas, and assumed the governorship of that State.

This occurred in the year 1861. During the last months of that year, and the earlier ones of 1862, I acted alternately as constitutional governor of Zacatecas, governor and military commander of the State of San Luis Potosi, and military commander of the States of Aguas Calientes and Tamaulipas. This last disposition was made in consequenee of the state of the war.

During all this time, neither the nation, the permanent deputation, nor congress when, it assembled, perceived that I had abandoned the presidency ad interim of the supreme court, nor did they detect that incompatibility in office-holding which Señors Juarez and Lerdo de Tejada seek to discover by a resort to obsolete constitutional authority, with the aim of finding out that which has no existence in our present national compact.

It had been the desire of congress simply to select a person with an acknowledged and legal title to succeed to the presidency of the republic, in the event of a vacancy, and not an individual to preside over the ordinary business of the court The political emergencies of the period, particularly during a state of war, demanded the recognition of a person entitled to the succession, and it mattered little whether he was, or was not, governor of Zacatecas.

During normal times it might have proven inconvenient for the same individual to enjoy two employments; still the constitution is silent on that head, and neither have I pretended to fill both at the same time. The war and the state of the country governed my actions, and not my own inclinations, for my honor and sense of duty to my native land have impelled me to situations wherein I could render myself most useful to my country. Moreover, I have ever deemed it a gratification to obey the summons which the nation extends to a soldier of the people. I have referred to past events, not for the sake of argument, but to cite facts patent to the world, and ratified by popular opinion.

During my sojourn in Zacatecas and San Luis, at a distance from the capital of the republic, a popular election was held for the presidency of the supreme court of justice, which election, according to the declaration of the house, resulted in my elevation to that dignity, notwithstanding opposition from the administration of Benito Juarez, with all its power and influence.

When elected I was constitutional governor of Zacatecas; and notwithstanding that fact [Page 319] on my transit through the capital of the republic, I took the oath of office and entered upon its functions for a day, and thence passed on to assume command of my army division in the department of the east.

Shortly after I took command, in my capacity as general-in-chief, of that department, and a very little later officiated as governor and military commander of the State of Puebla, which I held until the middle of the year 1863; and during all this period I maintained a second capacity, as I have stated, namely, as constitutional governor of Zacatecas.

During the interval of my respective services, neither the nation, the permanent deputation, nor congress discovered any abandonment on my part of the presidency of the court, neither did they perceive that incompatibility in employments concerning which so much has been said. I was found exactly where my duty as a soldier summoned me.

Having been taken prisoner on the plaza of Puebla, it appears that some propositions were made in the house, having for their object the nomination of some person to replace me in office. No action was had on these propositions, as my nomination had been made for the presidency of the court in compliance with the requirements of the constitution; consequently the appointment of any other person would have been invalid on account of its unconstitutionality. The records of the congressional session attest the truth of these facts. Having obtained freedom through an escape from the prison of Orizaba, I forthwith hastened to San Luis, where I found the government located. After opening the supreme court, I directed my steps to the State of Zacatecas, in nowise abandoning the presidency of the court, as has been malignantly asserted, but, on the contrary, complying with all the rules and regulations governing the internal organization of that body.

At the time of my march, and my separation from the court, I demonstrated to the magistrates that my escape from prison in nowise compromised my parole of honor, and that my object was to hold myself in readiness to struggle for the independence of Mexico, whose salvation depended rather upon feats of arms than upon discussions of points of law, and hence I was anxious to present myself in a State of which I was a son and the governor, to impose new obstacles to the advance of the invader. My colleagues approved of my resolution. A little later was conceded the license I solicited; at the time, I was still governor of Zacatecas.

I had on many occasions, organized the troops of Zacatecas and commanded them through various successful campaigns. I had been one of the leaders of the State during the revolution for reform and the establishment of public order. I had been a governor for five years, and was so at the time, having been re-elected by the popular vote.

It was natural to suppose I exerted no little influence upon the political affairs of that population. My convictions, and, I may assert without fear of equivocation, the convictions of my copatriots, demanded that I should devote my energies to the reorganization of its troops to oppose a bold front to the enemy during those solemn moments of the country.

It is but rational to presume that the government of the union would have been actuated by similar patriotic convictions. The spectacle of the national drama remained unchanged, or, if it had changed at all, the aspect had been rendered more melancholy by the misfortunes incurred at Mexico and Puebla; nevertheless, personal interests, shielded from public scrutiny, overpowered considerations for the common weal.

During anterior years my permanent presence at the court had not been deemed requisite, neither was it so considered when I lay besieged within the walls of Puebla. But in those days organs of the popular voice were on the alert, keeping constant guard over the interests of the state.

The government worked only to stultify my influence; it operated to preclude any opportunity of my sharing the popular destiny through rendering fresh services to the country. The cardinal policy of all its acts tended towards ulterior purposes.

My position at the head of the troops of an influential democratic State was one of the most serious obstacles Mexico presented to the invader; it served, moreover, as a sentinel, guarding the legal rights and privileges of the people, so that the offices of the State could not be disposed of as if they were in the hands of private proprietors.

The administration of Señor Juarez, instead of employing for the benefit of Mexico the great or little influence which I possessed in Zacatecas, commenced intriguing, in a private manner, with a view of removing matters and persons to another sphere, in order to neutralize my influence At the same time, Señor Juarez indited a private epistle to Don Severo Cosio, who acted as governor of Zacatecas, promising him a continuance in office. As the tenor of the communication was of a private character, and related to the personal opinions of the President, the patriot, Señor Cosio, answered in a like style, assuring him that my influence in the State, taken in connection with my official position as governor, was of importance, if not absolutely necessary, did they desire to defend the integrity of the State. Nevertheless, the intrigues continued. Shortly after came commissioners and agents of the government, who tendered proposals of command to the general, Don Victoriano Zamora, who had been provisional constitutional governor of the said State in previous years. Civil [Page 320] war was on the point of breaking out in Zacatecas by reason of the private intrigues of the government; and this, too, at a time when the French army was penetrating into the interior of the country, and Zacatecas was standing in threat of an attack.

The government was well aware that, should it declare Zacatecas to be in a state of siege, with a view of appointing a governor selected by it to supersede me, it would be my duty to obey the mandate; but, at the same time, the government was likewise aware that such an act would be reprobated by a State notoriously jealous of the exercise of its privileges, and one which contributed the most towards the defence of independence under a constitutional régime. It was aware, moreover, that the nation at large would recognize, in an act of that nature, the motive of its dictation to be to impair my popularity to serve its own personal inclinations. All these machinations crumbled to pieces, shaken by the patriotism and common sense of the people of that section of the republic.

The country disapproved of all these things, for it was deemed necessary to discard private interests, and to concentrate every energy towards the public welfare. With this object in. view a delegation, composed of the deputies, the licentiate Don Jose Maria Castro and Colonel Don Jesus Leora, was sent to the city of San Luis, there to address the government in a firm yet respectful manner, as to the resolution taken up by Zacatecas to furnish troops, in its sovereign capacity, in accordance with its population and dignity, which forces would be placed at the disposal of the supreme government. At the same time the delegation was charged to request that no more obstacles should be placed in the way of its particular government when endeavoring to discharge its patriotic mission. Finally, the State agreed to guarantee all my actions, and pledged itself to pay over monthly the assessment levied upon it as a national contribution.

The general government had previously despatched agents into the States ostensibly to act as collectors of revenue, but, in reality, to impede my progress in the work of raking troops. Had the government stood in need of resources, the delegation were prepared to stipulate as to payment of contributions, under the proviso of having the amount definitely determined. The delegation had interviews with Señor Juarez and some of his ministers without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion Nothing could be more natural, for they were strenuously opposed by two ministers, holding secret communications with the enemy, as was shortly afterwards demonstrated to the public through the notoriety of their treason. These ministers, in treacherous employ, naturally exerted every endeavor to damage the republic, and through complication of affairs to augment its perilous condition. Nevertheless, all their arguments were warmly applauded by this same Señor Juarez, for they flattered his vanity by encouraging expectations as to his prolongation of his term of office.

The definite answer received by the delegation was to the effect that it would manifest to me that the government had no inclination to recall its agents, and neither did it stand in need of troops, as there were sufficient under the command of Generals Doblado and Uraga.

The delegation conveyed to me the result of its mission, and I detected the hand of treason in these machinations of the cabinet. So, was it possible that the defence of our independence demanded no further soldiery, when a foreign army was invading the national domain? Did no necessity exist for fresh troops, when the army of the east had been dissipated at Puebla? My conscience dictated perseverance in discharge of my duty as a Mexican, and as governor of Zacatecas.

Shortly after, Señor Juarez departed from the State of San Luis and proceeded to that of Coahuila, in consequence of the loss of the division under General Negrete, which served him as an escort.

About this time the deputy Don Trinidad Garcia de la Cadena visited Saltillo on a mission from the governor of Zacatecas to Señor Juarez. Upon concluding his official business he was invited to a private interview with Señor Lerdo de Tejada, minister of foreign relations and government. Thither he presented himself, and received from the minister proposals flattering his ambition as to a military command. It was proposed to him that, upon my first absence from the city of Zacatecas, he should seize upon the governorship, supported by the troops beneath his command as a colonel. He was, moreover, informed that the government would approve of this measure, and would immediately thereafter forward him his commission as governor of the State.

Señor Garcia de la Cadena, a native of Zacatecas, who had rendered the country signal service, both in politics and the army, refused to accept this proposition, objecting that such a course would excite a civil war within a State upon the eve of invasion by foreign force. Nevertheless, the intrigues were not as yet concluded. The same Señor Cadena, while communicating to me the narrative of his official mission, remarked: “I have noted, in all my conferences at Saltillo with Señor Lerod de Tejada and his subordinates, that a strong desire exists for the disbandment of the troops which you have organized and are continuing to organize. They fear them, because they also dread the arrival of the period [Page 321] at which the term of Juarez’s office will expire, as, of course, Señor Lerdo desires to continue in discharge of his ministeral functions.”

My relations in the general government were apparently in concert and harmony. The course of the war compelled it to withdraw more than one hundred and fifty leagues form Zacatecas, and experience demonstrated that it had ample need of the forces which I had been engaged in organizing.

In one or two months I raised, and equipped, and armed a strong division of the three arms of the service. They had been raised in the midst of these numerous intrigues, and against the inclinations of Senor Juarez, and served to co-operate, in more than one instance, most efficaciously for the salvation of his person, and consequently of that of the legitimate government, beside paying implicit obedience to orders received from him.

Herein are some of the consequences of the abandonment, as he states, of the presidency of the supreme court while at San Luis.

I was still within the State of Zacatecas, at the head of the division I had organized, when most reliable information was communicated to me with regard to the contemplated treason of Don José Lopes Uraga, who commanded, as general-in-chief, the flower of the republican army, in the south of Jalisco.

I repeatedly communicated this intelligence to Senor Juarez, so that he might institute effective measures with regard to this general and avoid the destruction of our army.

General Corona possessed a command under the immediate orders of Uraga. When he became aware of his superior’s treason he demanded his passports and withdrew. Passing through Zacatecas, he entered into a conversation with me relative to this treason.

Corona gave to the government a minute and official narration of the affair, and placed the manuscript in my hands for transmission, which I sent forward by a special messenger. This messenger was Captain Don Marcelino E. Cavero, an officer who had likewise separated from the forces of Uraga, and who was charged to communicate other details verbally to the government.

Other chiefs, coming from the south of Jalisco, successively visited me, corroborating particulars of the affair. I was assured by all of them that full knowledge of Uraga’s contemplated treason had been communicated to the government by the illustrious and patriotic General Arteaga. At a later period I found this statement substantiated in an autographic letter of that unfortunate and lamented general.

General Don Felipe B. Berriozabal, passing through the State of Zacatecas, invited me to a conference, with the intention of placeing me in possession of facts connected with the treason projected in Jalisco. Urgent military business precluded my presence at the proposed interview.

General Berriozabal, without loss of time, pressed forward to the States of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon, then the seats of the government.

He presented himself thither, and gave most conclusive evidence of the existence of the treason alluded to, as that was the object of his mission. He did more—he denounced Uraga to the government as guilty of high treason. Still nothing was done. Senor Juarez made but a single reply, saying: “That if Senor Berriozabal had been invited to participate in the projected treason, it had been, doubtlessly, done as a test of his firmness and constancy.”

The general, taking into consideration what had passed, and the support bestowed upon Uraga by the Senors Juarez and Lerdo, withdrew his accusation and remitted to the government a communication, very respectful, yet expressed in emphatic terms, in which he stated that either the government should investigate the charges made against him by Uraga, or he would publish documents dishonorable alike to Uraga and the government. His demand was complied with and Senor Berriozabal gave to light the communication to which I have alluded and the answer, wherein he vindicated himself, preserving in obscurity the documents to which he referred. Senors Juarez and Lerdo persistently turned a deaf ear to complaints; they regarded as of no account the depositions and information given by persons interested. The honor of Mexico, the morality of the army, the salvation of the elements for a successful defence of our independence, appeared to them of no value. It was a matter of policy to destroy these elements, created, as all the world knows and admits, by the States of the confederation through their individual energies and resources. It was absolutely necessary to demolish the sustenance of constitutional order, in order to create other elements and other agencies with the aim of perpetuating, when the time arrived, power in the hands of Senor Juarez. I state this, for I know of no other explanation which can be given of anterior facts Moreover, I am authorised in this statement by the facts themelves, as I have heard from the very lips of Senor Lerdo, when he says: “The destruction of existing things is of no consequence; great causes save themselves. Our sole question of to-day is how to live.”

Every one is aware of the manifold means at the disposal of a minister for the complication of a political situation, whereby, of his own accord, he can undermine the foundations [Page 322] of public order. The secret workings of his cunning may escape the observation of the multitude, but never the penetrating criticism of the historian. Nevertheless, how much more easy the destructive task through the machinations of an arbitrary minister, versed in the art of cajoling the vanity of a dominant executive.

Located in the city of Zacatecas were two strong divisions of the three arms of service, with a formidable train of artillery; the one under the command of General Doblado, the other under my orders. Both divisions were at the disposal of the government when it saw, proper to use them. Although both of these corps were located at several days’ march from the plaza of San Luis, an order was given to General Negrete by the government to assail that position with the single division at his disposition.

This division was completely destroyed in the attack; subsequently the division of General Doblado was cut up by piecemeal at Matehauala; a little later mine was annihilated at Majoma.

At a conference which I subsequently had with Senor Juarez at Monterey, in the presence of the minister of war, I remarked.to him that the period was not far distant when the nation would hold the government to an account for the disastrous manner in which it had frittered away the material for the national defence, through dispersing the elements of resistance by fractions, for, whatever may have been its intentions, the work of the government bore that appearance.

In August of last year the withdrawal of our forces and of the seat of government from Nuevo Leon and Coahuila was determined upon. General Negrete had then charge of the ministry of war, to which he conjoined a double employment as commander-in-chief of the army, composed of two divisions, the one under command of General Alcade, and the other under my orders—the same that I had raised in Zacatecas.

In the city of Saltillo I received orders from the general-in-chief to march to the Punta de la Angostina, at the head of the two divisions, and there give battle to the enemy, should they court it. If they avoided an engagement I was to retire the same night in the direction of the villa of Monclova. I obeyed my orders and accomplished the latter command, finding it impossible to execute the first.

A little after my retreat I effected a junction with General Negrete, whose headquarters were at Saltillo. On the morrow the government united with the forces and journeyed in company to the hacienda del Anhelo. From this point the government resolved to progress, by way of Parras, to Chihuahua, carrying along with it General Negrete, who officiated as minister of war.

The responsibility of saving our army was committed to my charge, although in an indirect manner, for I had not been nominated general-in-chief, but assigned to the command of the rear guard, following in the wake of the government. This circumstance is to be noted as explanatory of the manner in which I was forced to assume the responsibility.

The army was absolutely destitute of commissary stores, while the military chest contained not a single dollar. Its route lay over the most inhospitable and uninhabited section of the national territory; for the greater part over a fearful desert, devoid of grain and forage for cattle. Besides, on these barren plains it was liable to be attacked and cut to pieces by the French forces for the want of the necessaries I have mentioned.

It is likewise to be remembered that, if the army was unprovided with a dollar to supply its absolute necessities, it was not from want of means, which could have been provided beforehand, especially as two months had elapsed after the retreat had been determined upon.

The government had abandoned a plaza which it had occupied during several months, replete with resources, as was that of Monterey, where it could, and did, avail itself of the revenues from the frontier custom-houses of Matamoras and Piedras Negras.

I took my line of march in obedience to orders I had received. On the road I notified the government that the French army was only four leagues distant, and received in reply a written order signed by Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, saying that I should abandon all my artillery and trains and limit myself to saving the personnel only of our army, to effect which I was free to take any measure I should deem expedient.

I remonstrated energetically to Senor Lerdo de Tejada, that acquiescence in the order I had received would in no way result in saving the personnel of our army, inasmuch as we would abandon the only means of its salvation in voluntarily sacrificing our war material, while at the same time we were compromising the honor of our arms. I said, however, that if, notwithstanding any opposition, the government should insist upon observance of that order, it should be communicated to me officially, to absolve me from responsibility My argument was attended to, and the minister answered that the government approved of my determination not to anticipate voluntarily the sacrifice of material, but to await the chances of a battle. The French army avoided a conflict at that time.

I continued my march without interruption, losing, it is true, in the desert, a third or fourth art of our army, hundreds of mules, and a greater part of our munitions of war

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I then gave notice to the government, located at the villa del Almo de Parras, that I had detected symptoms of a dissolution of the forces; as well from scarcity of provisions and stores as from consequences of the privations endured by the army.

To avoid that calamity, I received an order from the minister of relations not to separate myself from the body of my troops.

At the hacienda of Santa Rosa a council of war was summoned by the government, at which, after hearing the opinion of the ministers, I received the appointment of commander-in-chief of the army.

At the same time there were accorded to me extraordinary powers to procure a supply of metallic currency, of which the army stood in absolute need, with the restriction, however, of acting on this point in concert with General Patoni, the constitutional governor of Durango, in which State were located both the army and the government, who would effect some arrangement with the landed proprietary to supply the wants of the soldiers. Patoni assured me of the impossibility of enforcing contributions upon the landholders, reduced to penury through the hardship of the war If this were true, as it doubtless was, it only went to aggravate the privations of the troops, caused the intentional want of foresight in the government. It was under circumstatces of this unavoidable nature that the army, whose dissolution was inevitable, was placed under my orders as commander-in-chief. The warmest advocate for my appointment, as I learn from the minister of war, was Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada.

It is worthy of note, that if the condition of the army was bad when it commenced its retreat from Anhelo, it grew notoriously worse, as was natural, from the causes I have related.

It is more worthy of note, that when I took charge as commander-in-chief, the coffers of the government contained thousands of dollars, reserved for its own use and that of its employés, whom it preferred to the salvation of an army whose privations had ascended to a point of heroism—an army which had been raised at a heavy cost to the States of Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Zacatecas.

At the council of war, of which I have spoken, I delivered my opinion, in terms perfectly intelligible to the government, that we should not destroy, by piecemeal, the material upon which we depended, and that we should take advantage of the extent of our line to harass a formidable enemy. At the same time I advised giving battle to the hostile forces, regardless of the point of attack or the number of their re-enforcements, inasmuch as, in this manner, if fortune proved propitious to us, we might capture some city of importance; and if the reverse, it was preferable that our army should be destroyed through chances of war rather than through want and misery, to the dishonor of the government and our arms.

I commenced my march from Santa Rosa, and posted myself between the States of Durango and Zacatecas, both occupied by the invading army. A few days afterwards occurred the battle of Majoma.

The fortune of war caused us to lose one of two points occupied by our troops and artillery. I retook the point only to lose it again.

The death of the brave Colonel Fernandez y Villagranta, who commanded the battalions of Zacatecas, as well as the loss of the leaders of distinction, and particularly the wounding of General Don Eugenio Castro, whom I had ordered to lead a charge of cavalry, introduced confusion among our ranks, which disorder was soon checked through the ability of our officers. Under fire of the enemy our bodies of the national guard remained firm. Evening approached rapidly, when I perceived that the heat of the conflict, the physical prostration engendered through privation, and the march through the desert, had so far worn out the national troops that I ordered a retreat. It was effected in the most orderly manner, in the full sight of the French army, who dared not follow us; consequently we left behind us but a portion of our artillery and the corpses of our brave and patriotic militia, whom we were forced to leave on the field of battle.

It is not my intention to narrate, in a detailed manner, an account of all that befell us-upon that disastrous day, for those matters I have already officially reported to the government. My object is merely to connect the thread of events. Oar forces retired, in the best possible order, to the town of San Miguel del Mezquital, and disbanded during the night of the same day on which occurred our reverses at Majoma. No discipline could have averted this final calamity. Every man conceived that he had discharged his duty, and that the war could be more successfully carried on in detached bodies. The only aspect for a contrary course presented to them seemed that of privation and the desert. Señor Juarez was at that time in the town of Mazes, awaiting the result of my expedition, where he was visited by more than a hundred leaders, desirous of receiving facilities and orders to continue the campaign under other auspices. But he did not wait their action, for, aware of the disasters occurring to our forces, he withdrew to Chihuahua, one hundred and fifty leagues from the place we occupied.

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I committed the insignificant remnants of our national forces to the charge of Generals Quesada and Carvajal, until the government could make some disposition of them.

I gave the official notice to which I alluded, and received an acknowledgment, which ordered me to transfer the relic of our army to General Patoni, which I did. In the verbal conference which I had with the government. I made known to it that there still remained at its disposal a small escort of cavalry which accompanied me This I regarded as my duty, and, after a lapse of two or three days, I received an order to that effect, which I fulfilled. Tacitly I remained awaiting orders, as a general, from the government; but this suspense in nowise suited me, so I notified it that I held myself ready to obey orders, and that such disposition could be made of my person as suited official inclination. I had no military commission to fulfil, and did not even possess an escort.

I would add to these particulars many other details respecting the charge made by the government in one of its decrees, that “while holding the position of a general in the army I had gone to reside permanently in a forergn land, during continuance of hostilities, without license from the government, and therein abandoning the army, its standards, and the cause of the republic,” and which is likewise called the official dereliction of voluntarily abandoning the presidency of the supreme court of justice. A portion of the statements which I intend setting forth can be substantiated by reputable persons, some well known in the State of Chihuahua, and others of a world-wide repute. Other assertions bear the sanction of the government, and all observations I shall make are deducible from the state of facts. I arrived in the State of Chihuahua after the disaster at Majoma, some time towards the end of September, 1864, and remained in that State until the end of February, 1865, when I departed for a foreign country During all this period, in Chihuahua was the seat of the general government, and for more than three months of the time above named I resided in the same city with the administration. During this period of inactivity I was tendered no command of troops to defend “the standard and cause of the republic;” neither was I offered any military commission, great or small, nor did I receive any intimation as to the manner in which my services and good-will could be rendered of value to my country, although I ardently desired employment, if only for the sake of appearances.

The government had no desire to furnish me with troops, and in this wise deprived me of opportunity to add to my influence beneath a military title; it preferred leaving me without positive support, and was blind to the privileges accorded to me by the law.

About this time it became incumbent upon the executive either to relinquish his functions, according to constitutional provision, or to furnish such an explanation of the law as would warrant him constitutionally to prolong his term of office for another year.

The 30th of November, 1864, arrived, and terminated four years, dating from the election of Señor Juarez. On that day I addressed a communication to that high functionary, through the medium of Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, in his capacity as minister of government, inquiring whether it was his intention on the following day to pass over the executive power to me, as it had ceased by legal limitation; or, if the contrary was his determination, I told him to bestow upon the constitutional law such an interpretation as he might deem proper, whereby we could avoid anarchy, strengthen the exercise of the functions of the President of the republic, and leave intact the constitutional law—a law sustained by the blood of the Mexican people during a period of eight years in warfare. To such a conception, I added, I would be among the first to give my acquiescence. This he gave me on the same day, November 30, accompanied by a note which had been agreed upon at a meeting of the cabinet, and which bore the signature of Señor Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. It decided that the constitutional, term of office of president Juarez did not conclude in that year, (1864,) but would expire on the 30th of November, 1865, according to the provision of the constitution. And, notwithstanding this decision, he claims to continue exercising the functions of President, according to the self-same provision of the constitution which he has previously interpreted to have closed his career, at the furthermost upon the 30th day of November, 1865.

I will insert, at this point, the exact words employed by the minister in his official note, in making his deductions from the premises he had laid down: “For which reason it is decided that the term of office of the citizen President of the republic does not expire until the 30th day of the next year, 1865, conformably to the evident and literal tenor of article 80 of the constitution.”

In the same communication he declared me president of the court. I did not pretend to this declaration, for I stood in no need of it, and neither the condition of affairs at this epoch, nor the interests of Mexico, demanded it. I had been appointed by the nation constitutional president of the court in 1862, and the house had declared me to be such in a most solemn manner. The decree containing this declaration had received the sanction of the executive and been published throughout the republic.

Neither popular opinions nor the councils, municipalities, governors, and legislatures of States entertained the least doubt upon the fact of my election, and of my being president [Page 325] of the court. To the nation belonged the right of appointing supreme authorities, in accordance with the fundamental law, sole source and fountain of authority with us. I did not, therefore, require any other appointment or declaration, and especially one suited for the convenience of Señors Lerdo de Tejada and Juarez in their prospects for a future date— prospects whose tendencies were far from the conservation of the purity of the law, intrusted by the nation to the guardianship of Señor Juarez.

The main object of the declaration was the destitution of the president of the court elected by the people, and the substitution of one appointed by Don Benito Juarez, who might have the power of removing him at his individual pleasure.

Such had been the intention of the government ever since it had left the city of San Luis. Latterly it had suffered no opportunity to escape it to compass its design, even when the opportunities failed to bear the imprint of patriotism.

In this wise the government acted, upon its arrival within the States of Nuevo Leon and Chihuahua, when issung a decree summoning a reunion of the magistrates comprising the court. The summons found me at the head of my division, battling with the French troops within the interior of the republic.

It was apparent that the sole motive for the decree was the appointment of a president of the court, who should owe his nomination and creation to the President of the republic, and thereby remove the prestige derived from a popular election from the person who might, through emergency, act as the substitute of the supreme magistrate of the nation. But the decree failed of effect. Out of respect for the position I occupy, out of respect to the dignity of the nation—the only source whence can come nominations of supreme authorities, and their destitution conformably to the law—I have preserved intact the charge reposed in me by the voice of the people. Consequently, in my official correspondence with the President of the republic, I maintained the title conferred upon me by my fellow-citizens as president of the supreme court of justice.

The determination of the government to continue in office one year longer was acquiesced in by me, as I had previously anticipated that action, and my object had been simply to obtain a construction of the spirit of the law which might become a definite and decisive opinion.

I did not accept office, neither do I continue to hold it, simply for the cause of self-gratification; during more glowing and less fluctuating periods, when fortune smiled upon me with pleasing aspect, I could have obtained official dignities, if not in a manner prescribed by the law, at least in such a way as the law would countenance in a successful leader, during the stormy hours of revolutionary transitions But I have ever abided the sanction of the popular will, as expressed in accordance with the fundamental law. At that time, as now, I have only asked that respect be paid to the law, as a foundation stone in the column sustaining our institutions, beneath the shade of which we shall progress in greatness, as has been done in the great republic from whose borders I indite these sentences.

My official communication and the answer from the government, of which I have spoken, were published in the State journal. There was not the remotest possibility of establishing the court at the city of Chihuahua, as all the magistrates were at a great distance, save the licentiate Don Manuel Ruiz. I had, as I have observed, no military commission for active duty. In order to avoid imputation of doing aught to the disparagement of the government, and fearing lest my political influence might be seized upon to sanction meetings, ostensibly for social purposes, but in reality to distract public opinion, I withdrew myself, as it were, from commingling with the world, and sacrificed the pleasure of a social state, notwithstanding the hospitable reception tendered me by the chivalric inhabitants of that illustrious and democratic State.

From Chihuahua I addressed a letter to the President, Juarez, under date of December 28, 1864. No reference is made to this letter in the decrees of the 8th of November.

In this epistle I stated, that having terminated the business which called me to that city—that is, to ascertain whether or not his official term of service had ceased—I found myself without employment since the early days of October, when I had received orders to pass over the forces to General Patoni; that I had not installed the court, and found it impossible so to do, and that, inasmuch as the state of affairs might result in a crisis, from the fact of the President of the republic and president of the court being in one city in company, and liable to capture by the French forces, by surprise or otherwise, and in this way leave the nation without a head, I requested to be granted a license as president of the court, and a passport as a soldier, to take my way towards the interior of the republic, or to any of the populations on the sea-coast, or to travel by sea to a foreign country, as I should esteem suited.to my convenience, and with the object of continuing to serve my country. I transmitted this letter of solicitation officially, omitting only those passages above printed in italics, which I did not think suitable to be incorporated in a public letter, notwithstanding they set forth the most cogent reasons for urging my solicitation.

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My communication was read at a meeting of the cabinet and acted upon, as was natural to anticipate.

On the 29th Señor Juarez answered me in reply, saying: “There has been conceded to you the license and passport you solicited, and at the earliest opportunity the respective ministers will forward you the documents indicated.”

On the 30th I received the license granted to me as president of the supreme court from the minister of justice, together with a passport, issued by the minister of war.

I insert this last document at length, because in the decrees of Benito Juarez an intentional omission has been made with regard to the fact of my having a military passport when I left the country, so that an accusation could be brought against me that “I had gone voluntarily to reside in a foreign country during the continuance of hostilities without a license from government, thereby abandoning the army, its standard, and the cause of the republic.”

SECRETARY OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF WAR AND MARINE—SECTION FIRST.

Upon this date the minister of justice, protection, and public order, makes known to the citizen president of the supreme court of justice as follows:

“In accordance with your petition, relative to having a license granted to you as president of the supreme court of justice to pass to a point unoccupied by the enemy, with the aim of continuing to defend in arms the independence of the republic of Mexico, the citizen President has seen fit, in accordance with a meeting of the cabinet, to accord to you that license for a definite period, or until you present yourself at the seat of the government, or when the government shall call upon you to return, or bestows upon you some commission— leave, in the mean time, to proceed, either directly or by traversing the sea, or through some foreign country, to points of the Mexican republic unoccupied by the enemy, so that you can continue defending the national independence with the forces you can raise, with the understanding that in all military undertakings you institute you are to act in concert with the governor and military commander of the respective States, or with the leaders of the republican forces, so that, in conjunction with those raised by you, you can harass the enemy, but subordinate to the officers of the supreme government, or to the agents to whom such power has been delegated.

“I convey to you the official answer to your solicitation of 28th of the last month, and I have the honor of corresponding with you for the purposes mentioned. It is transmitted to you on behalf of the department of war.

“Independence and liberty! Chihuahua, the 30th of December, 1864.

“M. NEGEETE.

“The General of Division Jesus G. Ortega, Present.”

From the literal tenor of the document inserted, it can be adduced—

Firstly. That I had a license, as president of the court, and a passport as a soldier, to traverse foreign countries. Subsequently will be shown the reasons inducing me to dwell outside of the country.

Secondly. I had no definite orders to raise this or that force, or to collect together the elements of warfare within this or that perod of time; neither was there any time fixed for my reaching Mexican territory, after traversing the sea and sojourning in foreign lands, with the sole provision of defending, upon the national territory, the independence of the State, leaving me free to proceed to any point which I might consider the most proper.

Thirdly. The license accorded to me, in pursuance of the decision of the cabinet, was for an indefinite period of time, either until I should present myself at the seat of government, or be recalled, or have some official charge conferred upon me, thereby demonstrating that neither as president of the court nor as a general in the army were my services for the moment required; yet, nevertheless, it is apparent that in either or both of these capacities my absence at a distance from the seat of government was desirable.

Fourthly. The government, instead of giving me authorization to raise forces in any part, or to collect war materials at a definite position, as it had done for a hundred other persons, and notably for guerilla chiefs, destitute of popular morality, issued to me a simple passport for the purpose of travel, inserting, however, a provision that the forces which I might raise should act in conjunction with the governors and military commanders, and with the chiefs of the republican forces, without interference with the exercise of military and political functions of the officers of the supreme government or their delegates; that is to say, that the government precluded possibility in my raising of forces, for how could a governor, having lost the capital of his State, secure resources or material to make head against an emergency? What faculty had he to procure them against delegated authority, where power so to do had been denied by the supreme government of the union? Could a delegate of the government, or even his subordinate, sustain me when my circle of action was reduced and limited? Could there be placed at my orders a solitary captain of guerillas, [Page 327] who might serve as a centre for forces which I might raise and discipline for a larger body, when the government provided in my passport that I should apt in conjunction with him?

I have demonstrated that I had in my possession a license to traverse the seas to a foreign country. I have, moreover, demonstrated that I was recognized by the nation as president of the supreme court of justice, a duty which I could not exercise in a judicial capacity, through the impossibilty of convening the court, but a position which I considered solely as the substitute President of the republic, according to the provisions of the law. I have moreover, demonstrated that I had no military employment, neither army nor forces, be their number ever so small, nor even the material of warfare, thanks to the official opposition of the government.

I was not annoyed at this disposition in the executive, for I expected and was prepared for it. The services which I had rendered to my country had bestowed upon me influence, and that influence opposed personal aggrandizement. In remembrance of recent transactions—transactions which had presented to me many difficulties, which I had surmounted— I was induced again to proffer my sword to my unfortunate country.

In view of intelligence from the interior, and of the disposition of the government, I determined to retire to a distance from it I distrusted myself. I was uncertain of that which was best for the future of Mexico I desired to be perfectly correct, and sought light.

I addressed myself for counsel to two illustrious and patriotic citizens in whom I had confidence, and who formed a part of the circle of the government of Senor Juarez as his most zealous partisans, and I supposed them, as was natural, cognizant as to the emergencies of the times. Moreover, they were clothed with an official capacity as members of the general congress. They were Senors Don Guillermo Prieto and Don Francisco Urquidi. Both were of an opinion that my best course was to proceed to the United States of America, inasmuch as from a port in that country I might journey to Acapulco, by the way of the isthmus of Panama, and thence enter the republic from the Pacific coast, and in the mean while I might ascertain in the great republic what could be done for the Mexican people.

I accepted the suggestion and commenced my journey. Permit me to remark that the government was in nowise ignorant as to the course I had adopted; on the contrary, when I reached the custom-house at the Paso del Norte, I found an order to pass my baggage to the United States, which had been granted at the solicitation of my friends

Thence I went to Santa Fé, capital of New Mexico. The authorites of that Territory informed me of the presence there of a stranger, a Hungarian by birth, who represented himself as a special commissioner of the Mexican government to recruit volunteers, to negotiate a loan of some millions, hypothecating the imports of the Pacific seaports. It was, moreover, asserted that his credentials were apocryphal, taking into consideration that he was a foreigner, unknown to the Mexican residents, and the fact that nations seldom, according to universal custom, commit such trusts to other than their own citizens. On this account I deemed it advisable to institute inquiries, so that if the man should prove an impostor I should çause his arrest and extradition to Mexico.

My anterior acquaintance with this stranger, name Jaymes, was through a letter of introduction, representing him as a colonel, soliciting employment in the division beneath my command in that capacity, but which I refused, as I was unaware of his antecedents. The information I subsequently acquired was that he was among the number of adventurers who travelled the world seeking glory and fortune. I saw him three or four times.

I made investigations into the character of his commission, which I found, in many respects, ample and correct, emanating from Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. He was authorized to raise two thousand men in foreign parts, as well as the sum of several millons, hypothecating for its repayment the revenues of several custom-houses on the Pacific coast. The evasive talents of Senor Don Sebastiao Lerdo de Tejada being notorious, it is supposed that he designed merely to cover appearances when he bestowed upon this stranger such ample authority to accomplish great thing. when he was confidently convinced that he could do nothing. I explained to the authorities of Santa Fé the nature of the commission bestowed upon the Hungarian gentleman, and returned thanks to them for their zeal in favor of Mexico. I arrived in the centre of the United State during the period of the termination of the great civil war. The press indulged in favorable comments upon my arrival, and expressed profound sympathy with the cause of Mexico. It was likewise so with the entire continental press, and that of Europe. It was believed in the United States that I had some authority from the government, seeing that the period for action was opportune, as in fact it was, that a demonstration should be made in support of Mexico and her independence. The enthusiasm of the Americans in our favor and in support of the Monroe doctrine was intense.

On my passage from New Mexico to New York I was beset by thousands of persons tendering their services and influence in favor of Mexico, many of them being of the highest social and political position. Generals with a most honorable record, commanding divisions [Page 328] and brigades, whose term of service had expired, volunteered to place themselves under my orders, to further our cause.

The passage of the Rio del Norte could be easily effected without impairing the neutral character the general government at Washington had assumed with respect to the Franco-Mexican question. I was, moreover, visited by several bankers of the highest position, who inquired as to the possibility of establishing an agency to supply our financial wants and that of warlike material. Persons who represented that they had authority to act on my behalf, which they had not, enlisted, within a few days, thousands of men to go to Mexico; but, as I have said, I gave no sanction to these acts, as I did not wish to lead home a filibuster expedition.

Without loss of time, on the 8th of May, I addressed a letter to Señor Benito Juarez, announcing my arrival in the United States, the manner of my reception, and a view of what could be done in favor of Mexico. Besides, Señor Juarez was aware of all this through the newspapers. I wrote, moreover, that I would pledge myself to enrol and equip, on my own part, any number of volunteers he might deem advisable; that I would collect war material to carry on hostilities, as well as an abundant sum of money, so as to be able to elevate the character of the war and turn it to a fortunate account. All that was requisite to consummate these projects would be his authorization, for I was unwilling to conclude any contract or enter upon any enterprise without the sanction of him to whom the nation had committed emergent powers. I offered anew my individual services to Mexico. I furthermore suggested that, should he be unwilling to accord me the desired authorization, he should apprise me to that effect, that I might govern my subsequent actions accordingly.

I communicated these details in a private epistle, and not in an official note, for I at that time held no official commission. This matter was one of mere form, and had the correspondence resulted in anything, the results would have been the same, irrespective of the style of communication employed.

I appointed a delegate to deliver personally this letter to Señor Juarez, having previously made him aware of its contents. This task was assumed by Don Guillermo Prieto, administrator general of the post office and deputy to the congress of the union. It will be remembered that I had quitted Chihuahua in the month of February. It will be remembered, likewise, that my journey across the plains to New Mexico had occupied two months, for it had been undertaken during the winter season. It must be furthermore remembered that a period of from two months and twenty days to three months is necessary for the transmission of an answer to a correspondence between the city of New York and Chihuahua, and even then under favorable auspices as to transit, for it is only during the summer season that post coaches can travel with rapidity. On this account I did not receive the answer from Don Guillermo Prieto until the commencement of August last. In thisletter that gentleman stated that he had fulfilled my commission; that Señor Juarez had listened with attention and interest to the details of my letter, as communicated verbally by Señor Prieto, who was given, as he supposed, to understand that I should receive, by the next mail, the authorization I desired. The conclusion of Señor Prieto’s communication conveyed to me a felicitation touching my patriotic sentiments. “Whether or not,” he wrote, “the government accepts of your services, whether or not it renders your project of utility to the country, you have assumed one of the most noble and disinterested tasks of a Mexican, in discarding all ideas of a personal reward, while endeavoring to strengthen the action of the government and, without seeking to create a new candidate for political honors, to strive to have Mexico continue, with unanimity of will, defending the cause of right, guided by a solitary intelligence—that of the legitimate government.” With a subsequent mail, towards the end of August, I received a further communication from Senor Prieto, which related to me that notwithstanding his previous impressions, it is now apparent to him that the government did not intend to bestow upon me the authorization; but whether or not, I should receive some response from Senor Juarez. Vainly I awaited its receipt by the next mail and the one following. It was in September, and my anterior correspondence had incurred no interruption. I waited upon Senor Romero, the Mexican ambassador near the government of the United States, and inquired whether any communication had come through his hands for me from the government of the Mexican republic, and he answered in the negative

I comprehended from all this that Senor Juarez never would answer me, nor did ever intend so to do. He believed that had I received any such document it would have served to refute the fallacies upon which are based the decrees of the 8th of November; which said documents, I verily believe, were at that very time in course of fabrication at the paper mill of the minister, Tejada. I comprehended, moreover, that these negotiations were being carried on with the sole aim of detaining me in the United States, so that by putting in play the jugglery of bad faith, it would be impossible for me to return to Mexico before the first day of December.

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It would be futile to vindicate my conduct to my fellow-citizens as against the charges promulgated in these decrees, for a critical examination of them, through the impartial light of reason and philosophy, renders such an explanation unnecessary. These same decrees declare illegally “that there exists cause to proceed against me,” and add most falsely “that I abandoned voluntarily the office of president of the supreme court of justice, and that, holding the position of general in the army, I went to reside permanently in a foreign land during the continuance of hostilities, without license from the government, and therein abandoned the army, its standard, and the cause of the republic;” while in those same decrees, I repeat, wherein Senor Don Benito Juarez declares himself President of the republic, he likewise declares that neither the constitutional president of the supreme court, nor the President named by the constitution, shall enter upon the functions of their office This is the sole and simple object which dictated the promulgation of these decrees.

If I had acted as Senors Juarez and Lerdo have acted, trampling under foot republican principles, outraging constitutional order, violating the solemn obligations of an oath assumed for the welfare of the people, I would have done better to imitate the coup d’état of Comonfort, alleging as a pretext, as has ever been alleged, the salvation of Mexico; for the scandal would have been the same, the lack of loyalty to the people the same, and the political results the same. A single difference might be detected: in the coup d’état of Comonfort there was but little frankness and civil valor; in that of the 8th of November even these qualities were wanting, as in their stead were substituted words and sophisms, which, although insulting to popular intelligence, fail to deceive the people.

I abandoned the standards of the army and the cause of the republic, say Senors Juarez and Lerdo—in other words, that I betrayed my trust. And this is set forth in a document wherein they betray their own, the gravest trust which could be committed to mortal man. To extenuate their own transgressions they confuse me individually with another capacity— that of the person prescribed by law to succeed to exercise of the supreme power. I to abandon the standard of the army and the cause of the republic! Can it be imagined that an humble citizen, called by the will of the people to assume a position of the highest dignity, and that without intrigue and solicitation on his part, would voluntarily depart from the rules of honor and decency? Can it be imagined that an humble citizen, freely assuming his place among the ranks of the nation’s defenders, disdaining the joys and pleasures of a peaceful hearthside, contemning the luxuries of a home and the flatteries of a social position to struggle in the cause of liberty and order, would voluntarily abandon the principle of honor which called him into being as a soldier?

What man would desert the executive chair as governor of a State? What man, already honored through the nation’s voice with the high dignity of president of one of the supreme powers of the United States of Mexico, would go forth to battle against foreign invaders of his country, would defend the walls of a city wherein he was taken prisoner while defending his flag, and at the last hour abandon the cause of duty and honor? What man, escaping from a dungeon and liberated through honorable means, would offer his sword and patrimony to the service of his country, would contend against intrigues and difficulties, would levy forces after forces to hurl against the invaders wherever they appeared, and in the hour of national trial basely desert the army, its standard, and the cause of the republic? How can it be pretended that I fled, abandoning the presidency of the court, when I was travelling for the good of the country, with the license of and a passport from the government? When in that license and passport there had been committed to me no trust to fulfil, no duty imposed wherein I could make default, was it a crime to intimate to the government that in the position in which I found myself I could do much, very much, towards the salvation of your and my native land? Was it a crime to reiterate, time after time, that my person was subjected to its orders, so that my services could be rendered useful to the common weal, and all this without having been favored with a response to the epistle I sent it?

In what did I neglect my duty as a Mexican? Wherein, yielding to the emergencies of my position in a foreign country, did I make default in any order, when leaving all projects I made to the satisfaction of the government? When the government received my despatch it should have answered frankly and openly that the country had no need of my services abroad, and indicated to me the route I should take to return homeward. Had that been done it would have been nearer the truth when it declared to the nation that I remained abroad permanently, although neither before nor after did I receive the least intimation that my presence was necessary upon Mexican soil. Is not an imputation of this nature a pure calumny? Is it worthy the dignity of the government? Will such weak inventions, to be detected by those unversed in political matters, satisfy an accusation in the eyes of a people acquainted with the fundamental principles of the law? Can any man fail to perceive in the decrees and the circular which attempted to divest me of the responsibility and functions of the president of the court, and nominated another in my stead, a declaration that neither I nor he could succeed to the supreme power as provided for in the [Page 330] constitution? Who fails to perceive, I repeat, that all these documents have a single object, a single aim—that of perpetuating power in the hands of those issuing them? If my presence was necessary, as Senors Juarez and Lerdo would have us understand, to prevent the State from being without a head, why concede a license for an indefinite period of time, and which, from its literal interpretation, suffered me to traverse seas and to journey to foreign lands? If emergencies unknown at the time of granting the license occurred subsequently, why was I not recalled? It is only in frank and truthful actions that a loyal government can account for the trust committed to it by the popular will. If, as has been pretended, the independence of Mexico required exercise of all human energies; if to its cause all other interests should have been made subordinate, why was denied me the authorization I desired, through which, in a foreign land, I might have proved of advantage to Mexico? It was because it was feared that I might acquire influence which did not suit the interest of others; ill disguised as it is, the fact is true.

To what other cause can this be attributed? Was it because the government had need of my services to take the head of affairs, should a vacancy occur, or was it to fulfil my judicial functions? It will be seen that the court had never assembled, for it was impossible for it to do so; it will be seen, moreover, that I had a license and passport to leave the seat of government and traverse territories and seas to a foreign country. Was it because the government conceived it necessary to intrust to me some commission of national utility? It will be seen that I had no employment at Chihuahua, nor when I quitted that place. Was it because the government had not received my letter? It is proven that the letter was received, as well by the testimony of Senor Prieto as by that of numbers of other respectable citizens of Chihuahua. Was it because there was lacking in me aptitude, representative ability, or national confidence? Possibly I may have been wanting in the first, and confess it ingenuously and in all modesty, but perchance the deficiency was not perceived, when states, governors, and the people have honored me with evidences of their confidence in my representative ability.

There can be wanting neither representative ability nor national confidence in a man who has been elected deputy to the constituent congress of Zacatecas and the federal union; to one who has acted officially as minister of war; to one who has been elected, by popular suffrage, governor of one of the principal States of the republic; to one upon whom has been bestowed, by the General Don, Santos Degollado, the most ample functions for the military command of the States of San Luis Potosi, Durango, Aguas Calientes, and Zacatecas; to one who, a little while thereafter, had been appointed general-in-chief of the federal army of the republic, and charged with extraordinary powers for finance and war; to one to whom we are indebted for the definite triumph of reform and legal order; to one who has received, during this emergency, the military command of the States of San Luis, Aguas Calientes, Zacatecas, and Tamaulipas, with extraordinary powers for war and finance in the three last, together with every branch of administration for the government of the former; to one unto whom has been confided the command in chief of the army of the east, and invested with the full authority necessary to govern the States of Puebla, Vera Cruz, and Tlaxcala; to one to whom the popular vote has conferred the presidency of the supreme court of justice; to one upon whom the popular voice has concentrated as among the candidates for the presidency of the republic. No; against a man who has been intrusted with all these dignities cannot be charged lack of representative ability or national confidence—which cannot rationally be expected in a stranger who holds in this country neither position nor family, and to whom the welfare of Mexico is a matter of perfect indifference.

It was during September that I prepared to leave New York for Mexico, when I was detained by an order for my arrest upon civil process, as was noted by the newspapers at the time.

I believed that the order would have been disposed of briefly on account of the manifest injustice of the claim, which was decided afterwards as unjust according to the legislation of this country. I pressed the matter forward, but it was retarded by the intricacies of the law, exerted to my disadvantage. The hand of intrigue put in motion all the springs to obtain that object, assisted by that of treason. All concluded, finally, through the honesty and impartiality of the judges, who dismissed the complaint on the 3d day of November, when the order was revoked. The latest letters received in New York from El Paso del Norte intimated that the government was to remove to the frontier post of Piedras Negras. Thither I proceeded, and there received notice that Senor Juarez had retrograded to Chihuahua, as the French had evacuated that city. At the same time I received some vague intelligence concerning the decrees and circulars of the 8th of November.

While in Piedras Negras I addressed a letter to Don Andreas S. Viezca, invited him to an interview, and awaited his coming upon this side of the river, at Eagle Pass. Senor Viezca was a chivalric, honorable, and intelligent man, and, I believe it useless to add, appointed governor and military commander of the State of Coahuila by Don Benito Juarez, by virtue of the extraordinary powers conferred upon him.

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Senor Viezca presented himself at the conference, and alluded to the circular and decrees I have mentioned, and desired to learn, in his official capacity, which he held on behalf of the nation, in what light I regarded, the circular and decrees of the 8th of November. I replied that for my part I did not come to disturb public order; that I had travelled alone and incognito, having refused the forces tendered me by my friends, as well as the use of orders and recommendations from most distinguished persons in the United States, who had offered me an escort while upon American territory; that I desired Mexico to regard an exhibition of this nature as a testimony of its political advancement in the republican system; that I would present myself with no other forces than my own support, without other title than that given by the law, and trusted that Senor Juarez would deliver over to me the supreme power, for no other reasons than those assigned by the provisions imposed upon him by that same law.

To the honor of Mexico be it said that it had already witnessed a spectacle of this character when a victorious army, flushed with success, called Don Benito Juarez, president of the supreme court of justice, to the presidential chair, which he acquired through no other title than that given him by the law, the same as the republic confers upon other citizens. Senor Viezca stated to me that he had no desire to enter upon an official conference, neither would he touch upon the question of legality; he would only say to me that he had received an order, decree, or circular, to warrant my arrest, which had, as he said, been issued by the government of Don Benito Juarez within appropriate time—that is to say, during the month of November; that he was disposed to obey the summons and to make the arrest. His secretary added, “not only to make the arrest, but to cause me to be shot.”

I replied to Senor Viezca that it was necessary to terminate, in a decorous and dignified manner, a question so deeply affecting the interests of Mexico; that it was requisite that he should allow me to pass through the State he governed, thence to travel to Chihuahua, with the aim of seeking an interview with Benito Juarez, so that I might demonstrate to him by word of mouth the evils which he would cause the nation, should he persist in the course he had taken, or whether he could not remedy the error he had committed. I told him, finally, that if he would assume the responsibility of the step I indicated, I would cross the river and place myself within the State of Coahuila, and not upon foreign territory, where he would be at liberty to arrest me, dispose of my person, or take me prisoner to Chihuahua, so that I might demonstrate to the nation that I comprehend my duty, and would comply with it.

Senor Viezca refused to accede to my proposition, but indicated to me that I might pass through Chihuahua by the plains of Texas.

In fact, there had been issued an order, decree, or circular by the government, the exact form of which had escaped me, but whose contents I remember, authorizing the arrest of those sojourning in a foreign land without special leave from the government, and those who were living abroad by leave from said government given to traverse the foreign territories. This order, decree, or circular had for its object my person, and, although unjust, it was legal on a certain point, for the convenience of the government de facto, but at the same time general. A multitude of leaders and officials had previously abandoned the government in Chihuahua after rendering long services, without resources, but with hearts filled with faith, at the advance of the French troops towards that city, which they deserted to go across foreign territory, and thence to return to the country to continue the struggle for independence. Others had suffered privations on the frontiers of Mexico, after fighting with bravery; others again went involuntarily into foreign countries, either to cure their wounds or to gather fresh strength to continue in the struggle for our liberty.

With ample concurrence of the government, many of the most influential men of the country had gone to foreign territories; notably, General Don Placido Vega, who held a commission, I believe; General Don Pedro Ogazon, General Don Manuel Doblado, General Don Felipe B. Berriozabal, who extorted a passport to reside in a foreign country, and many others of more or less influence, some with passports and others expelled, or forced out by the government. A general who had lost his army, raised by his individual efforts, and could have raised more had be not been beneath the ban of the government, did not declare that he went forth to engross the files of treason, neither was he exiled to a foreign land, but forced thither by more efficacious means. In place of giving him troops, for the government had none, or the means of raising and organizing them, it placed him in a humiliating and undignified position, to which the government contributed from its seat, successfully erected in city after city. This conduct resulted in weak men, without restraint upon their passions, augmenting the catalogue of traitors, both as military men and politicians, while others of the refugees went forth into foreign lands, protesting to the thinking world against the invaders of their country, and against the government, whose imbecility rendered it responsible for these shameful disorders.

I had frequently spoken to Senor Juarez as to the bad impression caused by this exode of influential persons, and prayed him to put a stop to it in the most determined manner. At [Page 332] that time General Doblado and Colonel Rincon Gallardo, both governors of the State of Guanajuato, quitted Monterey. But he did not decree at that time against the evil, as he has now done, when his object is to entrap my person.

Placing my hand upon my heart I have inscribed this manifesto, and have asked myself many times, has it not been done for the best interests of Mexico, my place of nativity, the receptacle of the ashes of my forefathers, wherein is preserved all I hold most dear and sacred, memory of my past and present—and are not my conclusions justifiable? My conscience answers in the affirmative. I have defended the government of Juarez with the loyalty of a gentleman, with my sword and my voice, for six or seven years; I have sanctioned it with my signature; I reverenced it as that of my native land, while loyally supporting the standard of the law, the palladium of public rights; but I do not honor those who make a burlesque of their fellow-citizens, who break through the obligations of their oaths, who betray the law, be they called either Comonfort or Juarez. I neither honor, nor will I ever honor, those who dishonor my country, who have made it a scoff to the world, asserting through example that Mexico has no laws which cannot be trampled down at the will of a mandarin, although at this very time Mexico is deluged with the blood of her children, in defence of the banner of law and order.

I have been one of the chieftains of the people. I have raised thousands of men to go forth and battle for the principle of legal order against one of the most powerful nations of the earth; I have seen the blood of my countrymen wet the soil of their birth; I have seen the resting-places of the dead desecrated, our towns and cities pillaged and burned, and all this in defence of that principle. I have, therefore, a double duty which my conscience dictates, in view of these numerous and sanguinary sacrifices.

I have not heaped upon the government useless or unnecessary charges, dictated by a personal sentiment The public is ray judge before whom my writings will be exposed, when the heat and anger of passion have passed away. I have defended law and order because it was my duty; if others have been remiss in their duty, it has been no crime of mine to remain silent. I have defended my person, not as an individual but as an officer charged by the public will with the salvation of a principle. I have retraced at length the errors committed by the government, and for its personal motives, but not until that government has consummated an official act which tends to destroy the law in the place of preserving it. I have protested against this act, that the people shall learn the errors of past and present government, so as to draw their conclusions from experience gained by the nation during a brief but melancholy apprenticeship.

I have no desire to tarnish the glory of my country. Glory, indeed, belongs to a nation which has maintained a four years’ struggle with a powerful enemy, who has used every endeavor to divide its defenders and maintain a ceaseless combat. Glory. indeed, belongs to a nation, not one of whose states, towns, or cities has given adherence to intervention unless beneath the presence of foreign bayonets. Glory, indeed, to a nation who has preserved its cities, ever open to the access of the authorities, even if they do not come at the carinon’s mouth, but in the name of the law. Glory to a nation who, having lost its army, without moneys, stores, or material, improvises bands after bands to rally around the standard of independence—of heroes, born with the emergency, springing from the bosom of the people and willing to lay down their lives in a martyrdom for liberty.

Neither have I tarnished the glory of Señor Juarez, who has himself destroyed it, and with it his previous good fame. His glory was that of a governor who should have placed himself at the head of his legions to show to his fellow-citizens, by his own example, how to defend the independence of the country or perish in the attempt.

But he exercised no judiciousness in the selection of persons for we have seen generals in a foreign land, who had served loyally and patriotically, remain without their services being rendered useful to the country, as well as those who had filled high official positions. We have seen governors, who had faithfully performed the functions of their office, superseded by others of his creation; moreover, we have seen generals, ministers, and governors, named by him, deserting to the cause of treason. The glory of Benito Juarez was derived from the democracy, which ever progresses with reform and liberty—from that government of the people which takes the law as its guarantee.

If, then, Senor Juarez has tarnished his own glory by following in the footsteps of men travelling on the wrong road before him, I am not the only Mexican who has involuntarily obeyed the instinct of duty and narrated that which the government has done by its own acts. Nevertheless, the glory of Mexico remains immaculate, for it cannot be stained by the errors of a man, nor decried by the intrigues of others.

Mexicans, I believe that I have fulfilled the obligations I contracted with you. I believe I have done so during this solemn trial of the country, when prudence should dictate conciliation with those remedies required to rectify infraction of the law.

Fellow-citizens, believe me, I speak from my heart. If the salvation of our common country demands as a sacrifice on my part that I shall never again tread the blooming turf [Page 333] of my native land, nor breathe the balmy air of its sunny clime, and no longer defend in your midst our nation’s banner, cheerfully will I submit to the sacrifice, and seek a death-spot in some foreign land. But if, on the contrary, you believe that the cause of law and order has need of my presence as a rallying point, if you believe that my coming to Mexico will dissipate the evil consequences inflicted upon it by the government, I am yours through the convictions of honor and duty. Act with circumspection, and whatever you do, let it be to reclaim the honor of Mexico, and you will work out its salvation.

JESUS G. ORTEGA.

San Antonio de Bexar, December 26, 1865.

No. 2.

[From the official paper of the constitutional government of the Mexican republic, Paso del Norte, May 10, 1866.]

Department of foreign relations and government–Government branch–Section first.

Circular.

On account of the decrees communicated to you on the 8th November last, one in relation to the extension of the term of office of the President, agreeably to the spirit and letter of the provisions of the constitution, as long as war prevents a new election, and the other touching upon the responsibilities of General Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, he has addressed a protest to the undersigned and a manifest to the nation. The protest is dated at Eagle Pass, in the State of Texas, the 21st of December, and the manifest is published at San Antonio, Texas, in the United States of America, on the 26th of the same month. General Ortega was living in that country at the time, and had been there for a year, without a commission or license from the government, while all good citizens of the republic were fighting for its independence and its institutions against foreign invasion. I have not received the protest, but have seen printed copies of it and the manifest in the hands of private individuals. I will not wait to receive the protest in order to notice it, for, in October, 1863, General Comonfort, then minister of war in San Luis Potosi, wishing to correct some errors in a printed document published as an official report of military operations at Puebla, waited some days, during which time he was killed by the enemy, and the despatch was published some time after by General Ortega, in Zacatecas, addressed to the minister of war, and it was never received by the government.

General Ortega could not refute the principles of the decree and accompanying circular in his protest and manifest. He pretended that they were not worth noticing, and only said he wanted “to give the nation the sense of, and a commentary upon, our constitutional law;” and added: “Whenever legal principles and solid reasons are wanting, we most use any other arguments to support our cause.” General Ortega certainly did not wish to examine the subject logically; he only wanted to evade investigation, and he pretended to assert that the legal principles and precepts of the constitution were at variance with our constitutional law.

Avoiding a proper discussion of the subject, he continued: “I now have to treat of facts alone.” That means he perverted the precepts of the constitution; invented precepts it did not contain; concealed some facts and distorted others, inventing many, so that his manifest might appear a plausible document, satisfactory to his revenge, when, in fact, it is an infamous libel, full of calumny and vituperation.

The sole object of this circular is to correct what General Ortega said about public acts, which he misrepresented; and from it may be gathered what he would write in his manifest, which most probably is also a gross libel on private acts and intentions. The government ought not to descend to such a level, and Ortega has disgraced himself by the condescension. He said he would not contest the principles of the decrees, but would adhere to facts; yet, knowing this would satisfy nobody, he pretended to controvert, indirectly, a few of the precepts in his manifest, but did not allude to the first decree.

On the 30th of November, 1864, General Ortega, then in Chihuahua, demanded the government of the President. He alleged that, in case of an extra election, article 80 of the constitution said: “The President will perform his functions until the last day of November of the fourth year from the time of his election.” According to that, a President elected in 1861. and taking his seat on the 15th of July of that year, Ortega seems to think that 1864 will make the fourth year after the election.

Among other arguments used to him at that time, I told him that, as a year could not follow itself, it was evident that 1862 was the year to follow 1861, and 1864 could not be [Page 334] the fourth following, but the third, so that the presidential term would close on the 30th of November, 1865, by the literal tenor of article 80 of the constitution.

General Ortega quoted the same words in his manifest as a contradiction to the government when it extended the presidential term. Without contesting the motives for this, he tries to make the declaration of the presidential term and its continuation as opposed in principle to each other, when he does not regard the difference of circumstances—that war prevented a constitutional election.

The simple meaning of the words refutes his argument. The extension of the presidential term was beyond the ordinary closing of it; presuming, of course, an official ending, otherwise the functions could not be prolonged. The decree of the 30th of November, 1864, stating the duration of the office, so far from prohibiting an extension of the term of office, provided for the case in which it would be necessary and expedient. In the decree it was expressly stated, “that the powers and authority of the President were extended beyond the constitutional term, till another could be elected, or as long as the situation caused by the foreign war prevented an election.” I explained in the decree why the extension of office was necessary; then it was to be determined what was to be the time of office. The government could not anticipate events of war, and so could fix no time for a new presidential election; and I therefore declared the government reserved its opinion in regard to extension, “because the time for elections had not arrived, nor could it be seen when the war would allow elections, and so the decree was proper and legal, by the letter and spirit of our institutions.”

General Ortega said all he could against the acts of the government, to deceive those who had not read the resolution of the 30th November, 1864, and the decree of the 8th November, 1865; but he cannot deceive the intelligent, who readily perceive the spirit of his manifest.

He knew from the first why the presidential term was prolonged, and did not pretend to protest at the time, nor make a single objection to it; neither did he demand the reins of government on that occasion; on the contrary, when he did petition for power, he knew the opinion of the government in regard to the close of the presidential term, and he promised to abide by the decision it made. It is thus shown that his petition was a mere form to save himself from responsibility.

He afterwards said the time was out already, and the President had not another year to serve, and he quoted several articles of the constitution to support his assertion, saying, “our political pact has fixed it in very clear precepts,” and added: “As the president of the supreme court of justice is elected by the people, the only source of authority among us, he is the person to succeed the chief magistrate in the exercise of his thorny and difficult duties, in case he is in default;” and he also says, to fulfil this honorable duty, he would wait till the 1st of December, if other reasons did not compel him to speak before that day.

The other reasons considered at that time by General Ortega as above the plain precepts of the constitution, and the duty imposed upon him by his honor, the law, and the national vote, were to remove all cause of discord, “to remove ills that might happen to the dishonor of the country, under existing circumstances, and to secure power, if possible, in the hands of him who had the right to exercise it.” Considering the reverses and misfortunes of the republic, General Ortega’s last thought is found in his communication where he says:

“If Mexico must fall in her struggle with France and a few discontented sons, let her fall decently, shrouded in her flag, and not leave a trace of suspicion that her fall was caused by discord among the defenders of her rights.”

In November, 1864, after the Majoma disaster, the government had to move to Chihuahua, because intervention seemed successful almost everywhere. There was yet no opposition made to it abroad; and at home many began to think they would be obliged to submit to it.

In December, 1865, those of little faith began to have hopes of the republic. The civil war in the United States was over; and that war was the real origin of intervention. It was seen at home that intervention could not last long, because it was hated by all good Mexicans, even those who had pretended to adhere to it. The struggles of the last year had encouraged the faint-hearted, and the number of the heroic defenders of the republic had greatly increased.

In November, 1864, General Ortega did not protest against the design of prolonging the presidential term, which was made known to him. He said, at the time, that the reins of government ought to be given up to him, but he would not resist if it was decided he could not hold the supreme power. He said the law, the national vote, and duty were in his favor, but he would not insist, because it might bring discord into the republican ranks. Thus he spoke to the President, who, he said, “was a man that had honorably fulfilled the precepts of the law.”

He next declared that he wished to battle in the interior of the republic, and asked to go inland, by sea, through a foreign country. Permission was given him to pass through a [Page 335] foreign country. He accepted it and left. Once out of the republic, he remained abroad without leave or commission.

In December, 1865, General Ortega crossed the Mexican border and published his calumniating protest and manifest against the government. He remained two months in the United States, till he found the defenders of the republic did not intend to support him, and then he went to New York to reside. He had already resided there one year, without leave or commission, after resigning his place as president of the supreme court of justice, giving up his rank as general, and deserting his flag and the cause of the republic. It was then decreed, the 8th November, that he would be subject to trial by court martial when he returned to Mexico.

General Ortega does not pretend to deny that he was away without leave, but he excuses himself, he says, in a private letter to the President, the 8th May, 1865, asking for some commission abroad.

He says he sent the letter by a person who lived in Chihuahua, and got two answers, one in August and one by the following mail, from the beater of the letter, the first answer encouraging him to expect some commission abroad, and the next informing him he would get nothing. General Ortega well knew the government would give him no commission abroad, because he was president of the supreme court, and might succeed to the presidency, and ought to be at home. He was permitted to pass through a foreign country, but not to reside in it, and he knew the government was well represented abroad.

What he says in his manifest about mail delays may be true, for the government was very busy at that time, on account of General Negrete’s defeat in Coahuila, New Leon, and Tamaulipas. Brincourt was advancing on Chihuahua with a large force, and it was necessary to watch his movements in that quarter.

The President had to leave Chihuahau on the 5th of August for Paso del Norte, and as soon as he reached there he wrote to General Ortega. This was on the 7th September. He did not write sooner because business prevented, and he did so then from mere civility, for the proper answer to his letter of the 8th May was given by its bearer.

General Ortega denies having received the President’s answer, but says he heard from him by the bearer of his letter. His only excuse for remaining away is in his said letter, where he asks for a commission to allow him to remain abroad. He knew very well he could not obtain such a commission, and he ought to have known his duty better than to allege such excuses. The petition was in a private letter, and he says he did not think it necessary to write officially, though he did so when asking leave of absence from the republic.

This is one of the many contradictions in his manifest. In another place he says the government is prejudiced against him, and wanted to turn him out of his place of chief justice; that all sorts of opposition was made to his advancement. One of these is his commission, given the 30th December, 1864, to fight the enemy in the interior of the republic. In fact, he was granted more than he asked; permission was given to him, as chief justice and general, to quit the country and raise forces for the defence of the good cause. It was stipulated he should act with the legitimate authorities, and not independently, as was right and customary, and he did not seem to object to it. The general continues his cumulation of complaints in his manifest. He says: “The government prohibited me from defending the nation. How could I raise forces? Where could I get them? What means had I? Yet I did not despair, but I waited.”

Did he think to defend the national cause by leaving the country and asking permission to reside abroad? If he was not satisfied with his instructions, why did he not ask a modification of them? But he goes off, and then pretends he did not understand them.

General Ortega gives two meanings to the commission of 30th December, 1864: one is, he is to fight the enemy inland; the other, he is to do it by passing through a foreign country. He requested both, and his subsequent actions show which one he intended to adopt. He explains this in his manifest. What he wanted was, to be paid to stay out of the country till the war was over. This is evident from his letter of the 8th May to the President.

What he says of prejudice against him cannot be true, since all these favors were granted him by the government. If he thought so, as he says, he certainly would not have written the said letter.

As to the decree that he should be judged by the proper laws on his return to the republic, he says the President has no power to issue such a decree. But the congress conferred upon the President full powers to do whatever congress itself could do; therefore he has power to determine the responsibility of public functionaries and their duties.

In General Ortega’s case the government has acted according to the provisions of the constitution. By article 105, congress has the right to depose the chief justice and have him tried for misdemeanor by a competent court. The government did not declare Ortega guilty; only it said he should be tried, if he returned. About his staying abroad, the government only said just what congress might have said by article 104 of the constitution, [Page 336] that he was amenable to the laws of his country for staying away without leave; but did not judge him and sentence him, as he has asserted.

The only restriction congress put upon the executive, when endowing him with full power, was to forbid any contravention of the constitution. This was to prevent any irregular proceeding against any public functionary: The government could no more violate the articles of the constitution than congress could, and in this case no provision of the constitution is violated.

It would be an inconceivable absurdity to suppose that congress should leave public functionaries unpunished during the war, when the consequences of their offences might be very serious. It would be ridiculous to permit traitors to retain their offices, men who leave their country to enemies, when it was their most sacred duty to defend it. If so, the government would have failed to punish Santiago Vidaurri for treason, and would have respected many others who have abandoned their country’s cause.

Another of General Ortega’s pleas for defence, is, that only congress has the right to depose a chief justice. He says he never resigned his place, and was not removed by congress; consequently, he still holds it.

One more excuse of General Ortega was, that the places of chief justice and governor of Zacatecas were inconsistent, and in that case he preferred to be governor, and resigned the judgeship in San Louis Potosi. This incompatibility of positions is explained in the resolution of the 30th November, 1864 which was published in Chihuahua, and afterwards repeated in the decrees of the 8th of November, 1865.

By article 118 of the constitution no man can hold two elective offices at the same time, but must say which he will fill; this I stated in the decree. I also said, that though federal offices were meant, the article applied to State offices too.

General Ortega, with the untruthfulness that prevails throughout his manifest, said, that to apply the incompatibility to his case, “resort was had to constitutions not now in force.” Just the contrary was alleged in the resolution and circular quoted. I said it was necessary to accept the federal office, and not the State office, when elected to both, according to the old constitution. As former constitutions must have been consulted when the new one was formed, the defects of old ones were avoided in the latter. In July, 1863, when Ortega was governor of Zacatecas, he resigned the judgeship, but was informed by the government he could not do it consistently. He was told that war would prevent a new election; and if he resigned, there would be no one to succeed the President, in case of his default. He was told, if he wanted to be governor of Zacatecas, he must be so by appointment, and still hold the judgeship.

From July to December, 1863, general Ortega was often written to on the subject, yet he continued to act as governor, of Zacatecas without appointment, and did not even answer the letters. The same was insisted on in the resolution of 30th November, 1864, and he has never noticed it officially. In that resolution Ortega was declared to be chief justice, for reasons and by authorities above stated. Now he says there was no need of it. He says in his manifest he had often before filled two offices and no. mention was made of incompatibility, and quotes authorities that proved nothing. He was appointed judge in 1861, till a new election could be held, and acted as, governor of Zacatecas at the same time, but that proves nothing in his favor, for only one office was elective. He also says he was governor of San Luis and military commander of Aguas Calientes and Tamaulipas at the same time. But these were not elective offices only temporary appointments by the government.

In 1862, after General Zaragoza’s death, he was elected chief justice, and the government made him commander of the army in Puebla and governor of that State. He mentions this also in his manifest, but he does not see that all his offices, except that of judge, were by appointment, and only temporary, of course.

At this point we note another of the many contradictions of the manifest. He tried to make, others believe that the only reason the goverment had to object to his holding two offices was its opposition to his: advancement. Among all the imputations adduced in the manifest is one that the President wrote from San Luis to Severo Cosio, telling him to continue. as governor of that State, instead of Ortega, The latter wants to make an intrigue appear from this natural act, when Cosio himself wants to refuse the honor offered him. According to common report, Ortega did nothing for the good of the country while in Zacatecas, but rather acted against the interests of the government. For that reason many thought it would be better to make Zamora governor, as he had once been constitutional governor of that State; but it is absolutely false as Ortega states, that commissioners were sent there to investigate his conduct with a view to his removal. On the contrary, the government thought Ortega would do what he could for the general good while in Zacatecas. There were many other good citizens there at that time who could have filled the place as well as Ortega. When he accused the government of wanting to dismiss him from the judgeship, it was trying to induce him to retain it by appointing him governor of Zacatecas. [Page 337] Wishing to avoid all misunderstanding, it offered to do so in the resolution of 30th November, 1864, and he made no reply, because he could not.

The fact is, he had private business in Zacatecas, which, became very public soon, and his secret designs were to oppose the wishes of the government. In reference to what is called a decree, but was nothing more than a convocation of magistrates, he said: “They wanted to abolish the elective office of supreme judge, and fill the place by appointment, and thus give Juarez the power of removal whenever he pleased. Such have been the aims of the government ever since it left San Luis; and so he convened the judges forming the supreme court by a decree issued in New Leon and Coahuila, for that purpose. I was then commanding a division against the French in the interior of the republic. The sole object of that meeting was to have a president of the supreme court appointed by Juarez and subject to his removal.”

To show that Ortega is mistaken in his understanding of the writ, which he calls a decree, it is hereto annexed, No. 1, and was issued at Monterey on the 10th of July, 1864, and published in the official paper of that date.

It is not true that the publication was made while the government was in the States of New Leon and Coahuila. Ortega said that to make believe the government was busied about him, when it only reached Saltillo on the 9th of January, Monterey the 2d of April, and the publication was not made till the 10th of July, Neither is it true he was with his forces, fighting the French inland. He said that to make one think he was rendering good services to his country, and that the government was trying to injure him while absent defending it. On the contrary, the same paper shows that he arrived at Parras on the 6th of July; on the 30th of June he was at Viezca, and a few days after the publication of the circular he arrived at Monterey. He left Zacatecas without a right, passed through Durango without offering aid to its chief town, then in a state of siege, and came directly to the seat of the government.

Neither is it true that the circular refers to Ortega; its object was to revoke the permission given to the judges in San Luis on the 18th of December, 1863, to elect a domicile till the capital should be fixed and permanent, and fill vacancies till another election could be held..

Before and after the circular Ortega’s situation was the same as it was when he was in San Luis, when he wished to resign the position as president of the court and become governor of Zacatecas.

In fact, his manifest is full of inaccuracies, which his heated imagination conjures up to blame the government, but not to be believed by any person of common sense. One of these is accusing the government of complicity in Uraga’s treason. Why he did this, no one can understand. The army that Uraga commanded was the same that had been in Quaretaro and the vicinity, from June to November, 1863. It had been raised and supported by the government with means in its power. As all the States where this army operated were in siege, they were naturally under the direct orders of the government. Even if the government were prejudiced against those States, as Ortega asserts, why should it betray them to the enemy? And he dares to say the government favored Uraga’s treason. This assertion is too absurd to need refutation. And he says Berriozabal and he warned the government that Uraga was going over to the enemy, and no measures were taken to prevent it. He says of Berriozabal: “He sent an official communication, very respectful, but in energetic language, requesting the publication of documents that would convict himself or Uraga.” All this is false; General Berriozabal never said any such thing. The truth of this may be found in the official piper of the 15th of June, 1864.

This government was informed of Uraga’s intended treachery long before Berriozabal’s case, and Ortega’s insinuation. He was too far from the seat of government to prevent his defection. The government did all it could to prevent it, and did save much of the army that intended to go over with Uraga.

Ortega says: “Information of Uraga’s intended treason was sent to the government by the patriot General Arteaga “That is true: he sent a special messenger with the report from Monterey, on the 2d July, 1864, and Arteaga was placed in Uraga’s position, where he continued to fight ten months, till he was killed, while Ortega was living in peace abroad.

It would require a volume to contain all the falsehoods in Ortega’s manifest. General Arteaga’s commissioner arrived at the time of Berriozabal’s trial, on the 11th of June, when Ortega’s letter came. The government then issued the decree of the 1st July, deposing Uraga and putting Arteaga in his place, and it was published on the 27th July in the official paper.

Ortega came to Monterey in July and learned all about it; and yet he makes another vile assertion that the government would not listen to his insinuations against Uraga. This is another proof of the spirit in which the manifest was written, and how much its assertions are worth. He says when he went from San Luis to Zacatecas to raise troops, the government sent secret agents to frustrate his plans. If he had given the true title of [Page 338] these agents, as he called them, his prevarication would have been too patent. These two agents were the district judge and the collector of taxes, and they had nothing to do with Ortega. He made no objection to the judge, but he would not let the tax collector act; we don’t know for what reason.

While the government was in San Luis, from December to July, 1863, many public and private notes were addressed to Ortega, but he did not condescend to notice any of them, as was his custom. Once he sent two commissioners to San Luis to ask the tax collector to be removed, so he could use the funds of the State for national defence. This was only to gain time, like his letter from New York, in May, 1865. The government, of course, refused his request, yet he continued to use the public funds. He insists that the government acted against him, when it was he who opposed the government, in open violation of law. He makes bold to say the government told his commissioners it needed no more soldiers; so as to have an excuse to refuse his petition. This is not so. He said he told his commissioners to inform the government he would forward the sums it wanted, if his requests were granted. I had no interview with his commissioners, so I could not tell what they wanted; but I know Ortega continued to use the State funds for his own purposes, in direct violation of law, and contrary to express orders. The government might have consented to his proposal, but it did not believe in him, and it has never had an account of the money he used. It was well known in Zacatecas what use he put the money to, and that not one dollar was used to raise forces. Months thus passed, and he had collected no men in Zacatecas, till the French came upon him in the beginning of 1864:, when he was suddenly compelled to raise a small force; and he says, in a boasting way, “in one or two months I raised, equipped and armed a complete division!” The boasting general left the State of Zacatecas a few months after, without fighting a single battle.

I have already mentioned that the capital of Durango was besieged when he passed through that State, and he offered no assistance. General Patori, governor of that State, after-duty in Chihuahua, was returning to Durango, then held by Mascarenas in his absence, when he heard that 2,000 French were coming to attack it. Ortega, then at Saucillo, wrote to Mascarenas on the 11th July, 1864, as follows: “I am told you intend to evacuate the city. I beg of you not to do it; I will answer for it with my head. I have 3,000 men and sixteen pieces of artillery with me.” With this force, if his account is not exaggerated, he could have given great assistance to Durango. He knew the enemy in Zacatecas and Fresnillo could not be re-enforced from Mexico, and their garrisons were too small to move out; but General Ortega set out for Viezca as soon as he made his offer, and arrived there the 30th June. He then went to Parras, in the State of Coahuila, and the French took unresisted possession of Durango about the first of July.

In 1864, while the government was at Saltillo, Ortega sent a commission there. This he mentions in his manifest, but does not say for what purpose it was sent. The object of this commission was to demand the reins of government. His reason for this, he said, was because the French refused to recognize Juarez or treat with him, and something should be done to save the country. Ortega’s real object was to side with intervention if he could not have the government in his own hands. Garcia de la Cadena was one of the commissioners. I had a private interview with him, and advised him to seize the government of Zacatecas the first time Ortega went out of the city, and promised him support, and to appoint him governor in fact. He refused, because he said it would produce civil war in the State.

This story of Ortega has no more truth than his others. The government pardoned Cadena for acting in that embassy on account of his former good services. What the government did in the case was this: it proposed to commission Cadena to act as governor in case Ortega should quit the State, as it was expected he would do, and which he did. Cadena refused, from his respect for Ortega, and said he thought it best to wait till the vacancy should occur, and not anticipate events. General Ortega’s subsequent conduct shows how well founded were the government’s suspicions; but the government could not foresee that General Ortega would quit the republic voluntarily during war and remain abroad living in New York, with the title of president of the supreme court and governor of the State of Zacatecas. In the first of his manifest he makes two accusations against the undersigned, and of a personal nature, namely: it was not strange I had signed the decrees, because I had formerly been “one of the persons engaged in the Comonfort rebellion.” Comonfort atoned for his mistake; he gave up the government to the president of the supreme court and took the field, where he fought and was defeated. He then left the country; but when it was invaded he returned and bravely died in its defence. I did not aid Comonfort, but dissuaded him from his first plans. This is well known to all public men; and the President of the republic was so well satisfied with my conduct he has several times called me into his cabinet. And congress, too, must have been satisfied with me, else I would not have been its president so often, as was the case on the 31st of May, 1863. at its last session. The second accusation was that I had issued the decrees, or signed them, “to show say power as minister.” I had already been minister nine years, and the acts of its office [Page 339] were not novelties to me. The second time Comonfort offered me the ministry I refused it, and Ortega may learn from the papers of 1861 that I have twice refused it under the present administration. I accepted it in San Luis because I thought it my duty to do so under the trying circumstances that were afflicting the country. I refused it when peace and plenty prevailed. While the government was at Santa Rosa, between Monterey and Chihuahua, in the State of Durango, I put Ortega at the head of a division, and he was badly defeated at Majoma. In his manifest he says he was placed in comand of that division “so it might be destroyed and he killed with it,” and he adds that I was chiefly instrumental in his defeat.

One of the reasons why we put him in command of those forces was because he had brought part of them from Zacatecas with him, and the government always favors those who try to do the most for it. The only regularly educated military man there at that time, of equal rank with Ortega, was General Negrete, then minister of war. He could not have been put in command, for there was a mortal enmity existing between him and Ortega.

This was not mentioned in the manifest. Ortega wrote me some letters at that time, because he would have nothing to do with his enemy, the minister of war, and I was obliged to answer his letters. It is not true, as he reports, that he expressed a fear at the time of being defeated; he was confident of success He was the first to propose the expedition to Durango and Zacatecas. He was appointed to command at Santa Rosa the 4th September, 1864, and on the 8th he wrote to the President as follows: “The enemy’s advance is at Durango, and his rear is exposed for many leagues—as far as Zacatecas—supported by 200 men there, and 200 more in Fresnillo, which we can attack with safety, as no aid can reach them from Durango unless the garrison is sent from there, and then that place falls into our hands. Our situation is good, and the interior of the republic is in motion on account of our advance, as I hear from Zacatecas.” From this expression of confidence the government hoped Ortega had changed for the better, and intrusted him with powers it had previously feared to grant, as commander in the States of Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, San Luis, and a part of Coahuila.

To give one more proof of the untruthfulness of all he says, I annex Nos. 2, 3, and 4, documents from this department and of war, making him commander-in-chief of the forces in the States mentioned. These will show that he was not limited in action in any way, and that General Patoni was under him. He was defeated at Majoma the 21st of September. It would be unnecessary to tell of that disaster now. Ortega says his forces retired in good order from that fight and were disbanded the next day.

As I said in the beginning of this circular, my sole object has been to correct what Ortega said about certain public and official acts. The government is in possession of all the facts necessary for his conviction when he is brought to trial. It seems easy for him to bring up all sorts of imaginary imputations, though he did not see how fallacious they would appear at the first glance. After telling all sorts of frivolous stories and insinuating he had others in reserve, he exclaimed, “Would to God I could tell all I know! then would my conduct be lauded, and that of Juarez and Lerdo de Tejada be condemned.” In regard to this affected reserve, the government is perfectly willing he should tell all he knows; it is willing to let him talk till he thinks he has nothing more to say.

He talked of everything in his manifest except the principal subject on which it was written, namely the unconstitutionality of the decrees Neither did he explain why he deserted his country and his flag in time of war and took up his residence in a foreign country.

It was absolutely necessary for the President to prolong his office to sustain the cause of independence against the invader, and it was of just as much importance to settle the question of Ortega’s responsibility by another decree, so as to know who should succeed to the presidency in default.

The President also justly thought proper not to trust the nation’s destiny to the hands of an individual who had abandoned his country in its trouble, and left it to reside in a foreign land till war was over, when he hoped to return and rule over it.

All those exercising authority in the name of the republic, and commanders of forces fighting for it, known to the government, have accepted the decrees, and have considered them proper and just. In spite of this, Ortega insists on calling them revolutionary acts. If they cause a revolution it will be very different from others; they tend to preserve the country and secure its independence. The President has shown for several years that he has the energy and constancy necessary, in times of danger and sacrifice, to sustain the country, and does not wait like others for a good time, to attend to his personal interests. In 1861, as soon as the revolution was over, he called a convention of the people to elect a President. Now he says he will do the same, and all know he will keep his promise. The President will always submit to the will of the people.

Independence and liberty! Paso del Norte, April 30,1866.

LERDO DE TEJADA.

The Governor of the State of———.

Department of Justice, Fomento, and Public Instruction–Section first.

Circular.

On the 18th of December, 1863, the magistrates composing the supreme court of justice were authorized to assemble in San Luis Potosi and elect a domicile till the supreme power was permanently located and could reorganize the court.

In compliance, therefore, of the said decree, and considering the circumstances in each case, whether the magistrates were appointed or elected, the President decrees that Juan José de la Garza, Manuel Ruiz, and Florentino Mercado, the first and sixth judges, and attorney general, shall reside in this capital, to be ready for business, and Manuel Portugal, José S. Arteaga, José Garcia Ramirez, Pedro Ogazon, Manuel Z. Gomez, and Pedro Ordaz are the other judges. All absent ones must present themselves in this capital within one month from this date, or lose their office. Afterwards the supreme government will attend to the reconstruction of the court.

And as you are one of those comprised in this decree, it is made known to you by supreme command, for your information and consequent action.

Independence, liberty, and reform! Monterey, July 10, 1864.

IGLESTAS, C.

Department of foreign relations and government–Government branch–Section first.

For the purpose of sustaining the war in defence of the national cause, and considering your well-known patriotism and services, the President of the republic has been pleased, with the consent of the ministerial council, to grant you full powers to dispose of all the rents in the States of Aguas Calientes and San Luis Potosi, of which you are governor and military commander, State taxes as well as public revenue, to raise means for army purposes, and to impose whatever taxes you may deem necessary, and to dispose of all the munitions of war, and all the forces that exist or may be raised, in those States, whether of the national guard, regular army, or any other kind, together with all officers, civil and military, as you may deem most proper.

Independence, liberty, and reform! Santa Rosa, September 4, 1864.

LERDO DE TEJADA.

Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, General of Division, and Chief of the First Army Corps of the West, Present.

Department of foreign relations and government–Section first.

The President of the republic having determined to appoint you general-in-chief of the first army corps of the west, and General Patoni as second, granting you ample powers in the States of Aguas Calientes, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi, has been pleased to accord to you at the same time, in ministerial council, the command of Patoni’s forces and of the States of Durango, Chihuahua, and in the district of Parras, in the State of Coahuila, and to do as you please in those places with the troops under Patoni, or any others; and this is done that there may be unity of action in the States of Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, San Luis Potosi, Durango, Chihuahua, and the district of Parras for the prosecution of the war and the defence of our independence and our institutions.

Independence, liberty, and reform! Santa Rosa, September 4, 1864.

LERDO DE TEJADA.

Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, Chief of the First Army Corps of the West, Present.

Department of foreign relations and government–Section first.

Taking into consideration that, on account of recent circumstances, the governor and military commander of the State of San Luis Potosi may have ceased to exercise the duties of his office, the President of the republic is pleased to authorize you to take charge of it as soon as you hear of its vacation, and appoints you governor and military commander of the State, requesting you to give notice to the supreme government as soon as you begin your duties, that it may act in the premises.

Independence, liberty, and reform! Santa Rosa, September 5, 1864.

LERDO DE TEJADA.

Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, Chief of the First Army Corps of the West, Present.

No. 3.

Documents relative to the coup détat of Benito Juarez, ex-President of the Republic of Mexico.

A WORD TO THE MEXICAN PEOPLE.

I publish the accompanying documents, believing them necessary to the end I contemplate.

With me it is an established principle never to depart from the pathway my conscience and sense of honor dictate, no matter what adverse influences may be brought to bear upon me.

I make this statement, actuated by no egotistical motives, but simply because I conceive that my native land, in the hour of her calamity, demands, and should receive, an explanation as to my future line of conduct. Silence under such circumstances would reveal a cowardly disposition, and, consequently, I feel myself compelled to give an exposition of my motives, even though I may incur the risk of reiterating statements to which I have alluded in a previous manifesto.

I assure you that my course is shaped to compass no ignoble ends; neither will I permit personal considerations to intervene in the discharge of my duty, for I shall suppress nothing which does not taint our national honor.

A few months since I said to Senor Viezca, while upon the frontiers of the United States: “I do not come with a ridiculous design of overturning established order; I have arrived, solitary and unrecognized, after having refused the physical force tendered me by my friends, so that I shall not be regarded as an element of disturbance. Should you yourself proffer me the strength of your State and your own influence to establish a government, I should decline the offer. My only object, at the present moment, is to visit Senor Juarez, to avert, if possible, the evils which he would inflict upon the country, and to inquire of you your opinion as to his conduct.”

The man who acts in this wise takes as his guide the good of his country; moreover, I gave way to none, asking whether or not they would recognize a government of my establishing.

A most easy task would it have been for me to create a new government in Mexico, possessed of more or less strength than that possessed by the one of Juarez. I say an easy task, inasmuch as Mexico is a nation faithful to and conscious of her rights, and. I hold a legal title and a well-defined authority, derived directly from the Mexican people, which Senor Juarez does not. I have governed many of the interior States of the republic, commanded national armies, and my political influence has bestowed upon me the confidence of the people. Moreover, during my residence at San Antonio de Bexar, I have been personally visited by many leaders, among them generals of well-earned repute, soliciting my return to the republic to operate as a centre of legitimacy, and for the salvation of our independence. I have, futhermore, received letters from officers commanding armies in the field, actuated only to secure the safety of our principles, inviting my return to the republic, which documents I do not employ, as they were of a confidential nature.

The task was, furthermore. easy, inasmuch as I had witnessed the reprobation following this violation of the law by Senor Juarez, not alone from persons occupying high positions in Chihuahua, which State was the official residence of that gentleman, but from the members of the legislature of that same State, as I have ample evidence to demonstrate, did it not involve a breach of confidence in giving private letters to the light. One of the members of that legislature, of the highest social and political standing, came to me as a commissioner, after a travel of a hundred leagues, for the express purpose of invoking my return, as soon as it became apparent that Senor Juarez designed trampling upon the rights of the republic, That representative stated to me that the State of Chihuahua would not acquiesce in the usurpation of Senor Juarez, but would, on the contrary, repudiate all his acts, which I believe it has done.

And the task was easy, as a final reason, because the late President destroyed the sole means whence he derived popular prestige, and if he lingers in political existence within a corner of the national territory, it is that he is tolerated from exceptional motives, to which I need not now allude.

However easy to me would have been the establishment of a government, it was not such an easy task to convince myself as to the necessity of assuming a prominent part in a drama representing the government with conflicting executives, and at the same time contending with a foreign power, even though one, having no excuse in lack of national virtue, arrogated to itself, amid the darkness of the pending struggle, powers which had originally been conferred by the people. Yet, had I believed the honor of Mexico, and the honor of Mexico alone, demanded my temporary abstinence from establishment of a legitimate government, in the hope either that Señor Juarez would restore to the nation that [Page 342] which he had unlawfully appropriated to himself, or that the nation would arouse to a sense of injured dignity, I likewise believed that the majesty of Mexico should, have rebuked the scandalous acts of Señor Benito Juarez, as it has already done in similar cases. Let him be rebuked, inasmuch as the establishment of a legitimate government, by him overridden, has cost the nation more than half a century of blood-stained conflicts. Let him be rebuked for having vitiated that very principle for which we are sacrificing human life in a contest with one of the most powerful nations of the earth. Let him be rebuked, for were he not, the nation forfeits title to its own existence, inasmuch as a people permitting its laws to be desecrated at the option of its ruler can neither guarantee its own integrity nor hope to advance towards the standard of civilization enjoyed by nations jealous of their well-being. Mexico, however, thanks to its own endeavors, is progressing steadily in accordance with the spirit of the age, as will be demonstrated by the documents I now publish. Let the nation rebuke the treachery of this man for the sake of its own honor, even though it suffers a passing penalty for his transgressions; for a nation struggling for a principle consecrated within the hearts of its citizens must inevitably resuscitate with a tenfold vigor. Not so with a people who succumb at the dictation of a man usurping authority through the vacillations of its sons, to its own and individual aggrandizement, for that people stand for all ages disgraced in the eyes of God and man.

Mexico will, doubtlessly, preserve her independence, preserve her principles, preserve her honor. Should the caprices of fortune render the salvation of her independence an impossibility her honor may be saved at all hazards, for all the strength of the world is impotent to destroy the honor of a people who, like the Mexican nation has struggled around a flag whose tattered folds will bear to the end the inscription of a solitary cardinal principle. Triumphant it will shine in effulgent glory; down-trodden, it will carry to remote age the noblest title to heroic martyrdom.

It may be insinuated, as some have already done, that if Juarez has acted illegally, an admission of the fact would dishonor him and thereby inflict injury upon the nation.

Will my silence, or the silence of six or eight other men, propitiate a nation whose privileges and laws have been trampled under foot by the idividual to whose custody they have been intrusted? Can a silence of this nature confer prestige upon a man violating his oath and reprobating his duties? Can it prejudice a nation to protest energetically against wrong perpetrated in its name? Has it prejudiced Mexico in the eyes of the world to have protested against the creation of a throne upon the land of Hidalgo, and to have proclaimed that the rights of Mexico have been assailed through the usurpation of a foreign armed force? Does the sentiment of Mexico and the world depend upon expression of our judgment? Will our silence alter the nature of political acts, rendering bad good and good bad?

The reputation of a public functionary depends neither upon the silence nor the expression of any one citizen, but upon the unequivocal and impartial judgment of society, when popular sentiment canonizes, so to speak, the right and legal procedure of that functionary. None can be ignorant of the fact that when the trials of a nation are at their highest pitch it is far more noble and honorable to exhibit herself worthy of herself, condemning all acts that she would have discountenanced when in the plentitude of majesty and power, or against the dignity and spirit of the law. The heroism of a country, like unto that of a man, is rarely evoked unless beneath bitter trials, imposed upon it through emergent circumstances

I herewith publish the correspondence between Senors Juarez and Prieto, relative to the letter addressed by me to the former, through the medium of this latter, respecting tender of my services to the government while outside of the territorial limits to which I have alluded in my manifesto. To demonstrate the accuracy of my statements in this latter document, it would suffice the public to know that the epistle had been received by the government. This is not only shown by the correspondence, but the additional fact that it was received in May or June, and according to Senor Juarez’s authority was not responded to until September, thereby proving that reply to a communication of vital importance was intentionally delayed for several months. Moreover, I was assured that that which I requested should receive the requisite authorization, without any intention on the part of the government so to do, and that, while I was awaiting this authorization I should remain outside of Mexico, in order that Senor Juarez might publish, in a decree, that I had abandoned the presidency of the court, dwelling permanently in a foreign land without license, and I had not even informed the government as to when I intended returning within the republic. I have already stated that I never received an answer from Senor Juarez.

JESUS G. ORTEGA,

The constitutional President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Mexico.

Circular.

I herewith send you a copy of the protest and manifesto which I have deemed it incumbent upon me to make public, in regard to the coup d’état perpetrated by Senors Benito Juarez and Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada.

National as well as State legislation having been necessarily suspended during continuance of hostilities, nothing remains to direct the administration of public affairs save those high functionaries elevated to power through the votes of the people. It is for this reason that I address myself to you, inquiring as to the course of conduct you have adopted with respect to this outrage upon legal order, and whether you repudiate or indorse the act.

The nation preserves an inherent right at all times, and especially during hours of trial and anguish, to demand from public officials the expression of their opinion as to matters touching the common weal. This right conceded, I conceive it to be obligatory upon me, as president of the supreme court, to collate all available information upon that head. Did I not do so, I would regard myself amiss in the discharge of the sacred duties imposed upon my position, and most particularly so when we contemplate the circumstances at the present moment affecting the country.

If I, in this instance, avail myself of my title as president of the supreme court, and not of that of President of the republic, to which position I possess a perfectly legal right under the constitution, it is because I do not deem it expedient, while the national independence is in jeopardy, to elevate contradictory standards, even though the one be emblazoned with the motto, “Order,” and the other with “Abuse of Power,” and treason against organic law. Yet my forbearance does not necessitate the republic to recognize as legitimate the official acts of Benito Juarez after the 30th day of November last past. Considerations as to the national welfare, both now and for the future, will ever instigate my actions; nevertheless I will always struggle to reconcile the cause of independence with the absolute salvation of the law.

Do not on any account presume that this note is designed to solicit your opinion upon an unprofitable business, neither that I have constituted myself into a judge as to your conduct. No! the object of this epistle is much more noble and elevated. The nation is undergoing a terrible ordeal; her organic code has been ruthlessly violated, and that at a moment of the nation’s crisis, struggling against a foreign invasion and battling to conserve the form of government instituted by that same organic code, without which independence would be a nullity. The assumption of a solemn oath, my duties, my honor, my patriotic devotion to the interests of Mexico, render it obligatory upon me to exert my most earnest endeavors to preserve inviolate the constitution and laws, whose creation has cost our nation so many and bitter sacrifices. At the same time a similar sense of duty impels me to exercise an equal devotion towards a preservation of our national independence; consequently, I have attempted to effect both purposes simultaneously, rendering the one subservient to the other. It is for this reason that I have not appealed directly to the masses, who might manifest their disapprobation of the Juarez usurpation in a tempestuous manner. To avoid tumultuous demonstrations from the populace I have addressed myself to the officers of the people, citizens charged with supervision of popular rights, whose foundation rests upon the observance of the constitution.

During peaceful times and those of national quietude, the organic law lays down both the order of succession and the manner wherein each authority and functionary attains exercise of the duties intrusted to them by the people. During an emergent period these provisions may be departed from, Yet the precedent of history in similar instances has demonstrated that the most appropriate method of saving popular rights is one wherein the opinions of the representative departments have been consulted. With this aim we have observed governors and local representatives of the respective States, either in accord or separately, protest against ignominious acts wherever they had the power so to do, when such acts were found to be in conflict with the spirit of the law as the exponent of the will of the sovereign people.

For the reasons I have given I now address myself to you as a representative of the people, even although you are momentarily debarred from the exercise of your functions, so that in your official capacity you may communicate to me your sentiments upon this matter. While so doing you may discard formalities, as much for the reason that they cannot at this present moment be complied with, as from a consideration of the grave circumstances which encompass our common country.

Independence, liberty, and the constitution! San Antonio de Bexar, February 3, 1868.

J. G. ORTEGA.

The Constitutional Governor of the State of ——.

From the constitutional governor of the State of Durango.

As a satisfactory reply to your communication of yesterday, inquiring as to my opinion of the coup d état of Juarez, the manner in which it impressed me, and my projected line of conduct for the future, I herewith transmit to you a copy of a letter which I forwarded to Senor Juarez from Presidio del Norte, dated December 15, of the past year.

Independence and liberty! San Antonio, February 4, 1866.

J. M. PATONI.

The Citizen J. G. Ortega, Constitutional President of the Republic of Mexico,

[Untitled]

Presidio del Norte, December 15, 1865.

My Dear Friend and Sir: The circumstance of the French troops being at the gates of Chihuahua at both my arrival and departure from that city, the implied bad taste of manifesting my sentiments during the critical moments signalizing our last interview, and lastly a determination not to take the initiative in enunciating my discontent at your coup d état, believing that task to be more properly allotted to persons of more consideration than myself, impelled me to preserve silence on that occasion, while at the same time my duty instigated me to indite a confidential epistle to you on a matter affecting national interests.

It is not within my province, neither do I boast capacity adequate, to analyze the decrees of the 8th of November. Nevertheless, however masterly may be deemed the manner in which the law has been perverted, however applicable and sagacious may be the deductions drawn from the spirit of the law by your cabinet, in everything not comprised within the circle you have described for your personal advantage, every honest citizen perceives that the law has been violated; that there does not exist in your person title sufficient to exercise the functions you have usurped, and that the country is threatened with the danger of anarchy, when constitutional order could and should have progressed in all its majesty. The grand principle, secured through triumph of the plan of Ayutla, was the perpetual abolition of persons. By it popular sovereignty—the soul of democracy—was recognized as a practical truth, and military mobs condemned by the just severity of the people as illegal combinations, who, with more or less plausibility, and stimulated by ambitious leaders, subjugated a populace incapable of resistance.

When I abandoned my peaceful employment, and sacrificed my private fortune in furtherance of these principles, and their sustenance through force of arms, combating with like vigor through adversity and success, I was buoyed up with the trust that the law would be our guide, conscious as we were that it would be sustained by the popular vote.

The citizen soldier can never be rendered an instrument for the destruction of the laws. Called into existence by the nation, he can never convert himself into a traitor to its interests, and as a defender of the government he can never be induced to conspire against its interests. According to my method of observation, and viewed by my conscience, I have no doubt but that your retention of power after the 30th of November is a usurpation; that the naming of your successor is an assumption unknown to our code, and but initiated by Santa Anna during a period of the greatest disorder, and that this commingling of anomalies exposes the country to anarchy, besides depriving it of strength, and compromising our name with foreign countries.

I adjure and pray of you, Señor Juarez, by the lustre of your good fame, by the well-merited position to which your virtues exalted you, and by the interest of our common weal, to which your devotion has been an earnest of hope and a source of pride, to retrace your steps upon the road along which you have started, as in your footprints it is impossible for me to follow.

I take greater pains to communicate to you my resolution, inasmuch as it should recall to mind memory of the past. You have ever found me at your side, unvacillating and obeying your every order while you represented the law. You will remember that I have always been one among the first to fly to your defence, and during moments when it happened that personal friends had deserted you I was too anxious to hasten to your company, eager to identify my destiny with that of the principles which you have guarded heretofore with fidelity. When you ceased to represent principles you deserted me; so that our separation has not been wrought through apprehension of danger, or through momentary emergencies, but because I did not wish to appear as a traitor against laws you taught us to respect.

This manifestation of opinion, which I submit with the greatest respect and with the best of feeling, does not in the least weaken my resolution to serve my country with the same loyalty I have ever given evidence of; neither will it prevent my union with those who [Page 345] are fighting against the invader with a determination to vindicate our common rights to the utmost extremity.

Denying beforehand any intimations of disrespect, and with no wish of giving personal offence—on the contrary, actuated by the sincerest well-wishes for your future—I assure you in honesty and frankness that my sense of loyalty compels me, without compromising myself with party or person, distinctly to state that I will obey no orders emanating from you as the government, but will continue to defend my country according to my own inspirations, co-operating with those who legitimately—indispensable condition according to my judgment—do so for the salvation of our independence.

I do not wish to conclude without acknowledging, independently of my official duties, my personal gratitude for the attentions you have shown me. With sincere feelings of esteem, I remain, as ever, your affectionate friend and servant,

J. M. PATONI.

Senor Benito Juarez, Paso del Norte.

From the ex constitutional governor of the State of Michoacan, republic of Mexico, general of division.

New York, February 26, 1866.

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the circular, dated 3d of this month, you have communicated to me, inquiring my opinion as to the coup d’état perpetrated by Senors Benito Juarez and Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, through their decrees of the 8th of November of the past year.

In response, it becomes my duty in the first place to inform you that my term of office, as constitutional governor of the State of Michoacan, expired on the 16th of September of last year; that in consequence of the war with a foreign power, I asked leave from the legislature to absent myself and devote myself to the formation of forces for the independence and tranquillization of our fatherland. Being so just and necessary an object, the license was granted by the State congress, and in compliance with an article in the constitution of Michoacan, they appointed as my successor the citizen Deputy Antonio Huerta, who, by virtue thereof, entered upon the functions of that office, receiving at the same time, and from the same legislature, authorization to continue in office until a new election is held—that is, provided I should be killed in action, or my term of office should expire by reason of the prolongation of the war.

Having said this much, it is with pleasure that I respond to the circular of February 3, in the capacity of the former constitutional governor of the State of Michoacan, and as one who received that exalted position through popular suffrage.

In inditing this letter I do not wish to weaken the force of the laws committed to my custody by the people, for I neither desire to maintain a position to which I am not entitled, nor usurp an influence not justly my own, and which only derives honor and respectability when indorsed by the popular vote.

For these reasons, while enumerating my opinion with regard to the coup d’état of Señors Juarez and Lerdo de Tejada, you will accept it as the sentiment of a supreme authority who has been intrusted with the governorship of an important State, and as an expression of opinion from the only governor elected by the popular voice who could speak in its behalf.

The State of Michoacan regards with deep bitterness the coup d’état perpetrated at El Paso del Norte, as antagonistic to the principles of the State constitution, and bedimming the traditional respect with which the laws have ever been regarded by the citizens of that State. I am intimate with the sentiments of my fellow-citizens, and well know their obedience to the legitimate authority, inasmuch as I am a native of that State, and have had the honor of being at the head of its affairs for eight years, during which period the rule of constitutional order was never once disturbed. On the contrary, the sons of Michoacan, enthusiasfic admirers of law and justice, have ever presented a firm front against the aspirations of ambition and the intrigues of disaffection. Let the foolish attempts of Comonfort attest the truth of this declaration. In all things, neither has Michoacan nor myself judged otherwise than that the laws of the republic owe their creation to naught save the will of the people, and we believe, moreover, that laws once framed cannot be violated by any person at his own will.

Senor Benito Juarez, who has broken through the constitutional defences of the country by a blind misstep, and who now unfurls a revolutionary banner with a hand pledged to sustain that of law and order has not, neither can he have, my assent to his decrees of the 8th of November last past. At the period of the never-to-be-forgotten epoch of Ayutla, for the purpose of assisting in crushing out a despot oppressing the Mexican masses, I marched to the battle-field, not only to seek glory in triumphing over tyranny, but to [Page 346] acquire a ground-plan whereon the people could erect a nation, so that in the pages of a sacred code they could read their rights and duties.

No infraction of the laws nor disobedience to the supreme power has thrown a shade upon my public life; on the contrary, wherever the fundamental laws of the nation have been menaced, the sons of Michoacan, with myself, have ever been foremost in their defence.

Benito Juarez, victim of the scandalous coup d état of Comonfort, is well aware that among the ranks of the constitutional army, organized to defend the supreme authority, I have been always ready for the sustenance of the laws, and willing to die before consenting to their violation. It is in such high esteem I hold the cardinal principles of right, acquired through shedding of Mexican blood.

The consequences of our present war are not mute witnesses of my devotion to the laws. A prisoner of war at Puebla, and transported to France as such, I have never recognized any other cause than that of the republic, nor any other authority than that imposed upon me by the voice of the people, and congenial to the fundamental code. Notwithstanding that, obedience has natural limits, and thus, as I would consider it a crime to oppose legitimate authority, I would regard it a still greater crime to obey one who usurps illegally the sovereign power.

Benito Juarez hag finished his career, for nothing, according to my conception, can authorize his perpetuation in authority; neither can he exclude the person to whom the law gives the succession in a determinate manner. Consequently Senor Juarez is but a private individual, and the presidency of the republic has reverted to the constitutional president of the supreme court of justice, who is the only man entitled to direct the destinies of the country. Therefore, as the last constitutional governor of the State of Michoacan, or, as general of division in the army, you will please accept my opinion, which I have set forth in reply to your circular, appealing to those placed by the will of the people to watch, through all time, over the national rights within their respective jurisdictions.

Please accept the expression of my high esteem. Independence, liberty, and the constitution!

E HUERTA.

The General of Division J. G Ortega, Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic.

[Untitled]

Constitutional Presidency of the Supreme Court of the Mexican Republic, San Antonio de Bexar, February 3, 1866.

I herewith send you a copy of the protest and manifesto which I caused to be published in this city, respecting the coup d état perpetrated by Benito Juarez on the 8th day of November of last year. I sent through you from New York to Senor Juarez the document alluded to. As it was not of a private character, but relative to public and national affairs, I trust that you will supply me with all details in reference to its reception, accompanying the information with any document you may possess.

Clothed as you are with an official position, I hope that you will likewise favor me with your views as to the act of Senor Juarez, of which I have made mention, and as to that which you have done either in approving or condemning the same.

The nation has a right at all times, and more especially during its hours of trial, to learn the conduct of public officers.

As for myself, and placed in the position of president of the court through popular suffrage, I believe myself compelled to gather such information, so as to comply with the obligations imposed upon me by my duty, and the circumstances of the national situation.

Independence, liberty, and the constitution!

J. G. ORTEGA.

Guillermo Prieto, Postmaster General of the Mexican Republic.

[Untitled]

Office of Postmaster General of the Mexican Republic, San Antonio de Bexar, February 15, 1866.

The misfortune of suffering in my eyesight deprives me of the pleasure of answering your official note autographically, and as extensively as I would wish; consequently, I am obliged to send you copies of the documents to which you make allusion.

The first is a copy of a letter sent to an intimate friend in Chihuahua, and exhibits in the amplest manner my opinion with respect to the coup d’état, free from all other motives than those of sorrow at the unexpected retention of authority by Senor Juarez. I have the honor [Page 347] of assuring you that my conduct has been entirely consistent with my ideas. At the time I suspected the incredible weakness of the chief magistrate of the republic, I demonstrated to him personally, and in the most earnest manner, the consequences of his design. I made public my disapproval of the scheme, and to avoid scandal sent in my resignation, which was not accepted; while, in my discourse of September 16, I alluded to the advantages Senor Juarez would obtain by swerving from the path of usurpation. I caused my name to be stricken from the head of the official newspaper when publication of the decrees of the coup d’état was made. I had published that paper gratuitously for two years. Finally, crossing the desert, I retired to a foreign country, separating myself from a class of persons attempting to impose upon the nation as law scholastic cunning, which the people will have the good sense, doubtlessly, never to accept.

The other documents which I forward are copies of letters exchanged with Senor Juarez. They will bear me out in saying that I placed the letter which you intrusted to me in the hands of that high functionary; that he was aware of your being in a foreign country, with the intention of remaining there for a time; that he never exhibited the slightest disapprobation of your conduct; and, finally, that he did not answer you until the 7th of September, at a time when it was publicly known that the idea of the coup d’état existed with the cabinet.

I believe what I have said will cover the object of your note; as for myself, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have performed everything possible, consistent with my duty.

Independence, liberty, and the constitution!

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

General J. G. Ortega, Constitutional President of the Republic of Mexico.

[Strictly confidential.]

[Untitled]

Paso del Norte, October 31, 1866.

My Dear Frank: This will be no letter, but a panorama of the terrible shock which I suffer in a painful manner. You will comperhend my meaning by reading the enclosed decree, issued by Benito Juarez on this date—a decree which it is, at this moment, impossible for me to analyze, as I feel as if I were in the midst of chaos, The decree, as you will perceive, is apparently according to the law, besides being solicitous for the well-being of the army, and in accord with the purest sentiments of patriotism Ostensibly it is a measure which does not transcend the natural faculties of the executive, against exercise of which opposition would be made only from selfish motives. But a careful perusal will disclose the Jesuitical mask covering the presidential question, so as to cloak, during the nation’s most solemn trial, in the most audacious and treacherous manner, by surprise, the prologue to the coup d état. It is thrown forth as a secret poison to assassinate legality; it is designed as an ingenious dagger to pierce unnoticed, but to leave behind an incurable wound. The allusion to Ortega is transparent on every line. It is he who is away in a foreign land, leaving with license and absent for four months. It cannot mean Berriozabal, for he was recalled by express orders; neither is it Huerta and his companions, for they are excluded. Ortega is the party denounced, as any reasonable being can at a glance detect.

This man, whom the unalterable law declares to be President of the republic; this man, whose title was confirmed in a solemn manner by the government but a short year since, when public opinion accused him of being ambitious—whether with reason or not we cannot say, as memory of his defeat at Majoma remains fresh, as accusations from which he was absolved by government are still being fanned by hate and malice—this man, I say, is not judged nor condemned, but his power is torn from him, as one dangerous to the common weal, or unworthy his trust. No! the law is spread as a trap so as to render him helpless; when, thus enchained, he is wounded and robbed of his legitimate functions.

Do not think for a moment that I am pleading for Ortega as an individual. I defend him as he at this moment stands, the personification of right. I neither favor him nor dread him, nor have I evidence to show him preferable to Juarez, but in all justice I regard him as an exponent of the law, whom they desire to override with a cowardly intrigue, concocted in secrecy and out of the popular sight. The decree is a confusion of ideas, which renders its unravelling difficult. The presidential question is a simple one; the constitution places a definite and positive term to the presidential office, so that a usurpation is impossible. It expresses that, no matter what may happen, the president of the court shall be the substitute for the President when the term of office of this last expires, and no election is held for his successor. The subterfuge of declaiming the incumbents to remain in office until a new election is not expressly set forth, but implied, in my estimation: First, because this case is like all others, and provided for in the constitution; secondly, [Page 348] because, when the law regulating elections was adopted, the contrary was held; and, lastly, because, in the famous answer of Lerdo to Ortega, government denied the right to change the law.

Ortega left the country upon leave of absence, advised the government of his residence, placed his services at its option, wrote directly to Juraez, and still received no sign of its disapprobation. To all of this you are a witness.

The previous career of Ortega in Chihuahua gave no evidence of irregularity or insolence; he respected the resolutions of the government; he acquiesced in its mandates, and left to make himself useful. But that nothing should be wanting in this violation of the law, it is concocted with ingenious perversion, which is sought to be excused by sophistry and perfidy. Was it anticipated or found inconvenient that Ortega should come into power? Then why did they not trump up a thousand reasons or plausible pretexts to incapacitate him? Was it not rumored that he committed an error while exercising power as governor of Zacatecas, and thereby destroyed his right to the position of president of the court? Was it not reported that he should have been court-martialed for his conduct at Majoma? If so, why did he continue vested with authority and recognized as successor to the presidency?

We will suppose that Ortega deserves the prosecution so openly instituted against him. What is the power for his judgment? Has not the constitution prescribed the method of procedure? Is there no restriction imposed upon the faculties which the government has arrogated, thrusting the future into the embrace of usurpation and absolutism? Why deceive the nation with this assumption of perjury and falsehood? Is it possible that the presence of a foreign enemy renders us blind to the theft perpetrated upon the national laws, upon the most precious of conquered rights? Is not all this formality and falsification the proper weapons of usurpers?

Juarez has heretofore been my idol, both on account of his virtues and his having been chosen by the law, for his standard was our glory and our rights, and were we to fail, we must succumb in defence of the law. What remains of our political edifice? Whom shall we respect? Does it make any difference whether the usurper be named Santa Anna or Comonfort, or Ceballos, as of old, or Juarez, the suicide of to-day? We will suppose that Juraez was a political necessity, and that his administration was immaculate. Did he derive reputation apart from his official position? We will not hazard the presumption that a change would prove distasteful, or that our exterior relations, being paralyzed, would prove the cause of anarchy. Has not usurpation the same or greater dangers? What would be the result from the discontent of the adherents of Juarez in the city of Mexico, where they are very few in number? Is, then, discontent comparable to the disaffection of Negrete, of Zacatecas, of the division of the army in the State of Sinaloa, and of the remainder of the republic? Yet all this occurs through the action adopted by Juarez. The partisans of principle will not recognize Juarez in the future, for they advocate principles, not men. Such being the case, will it justify a deliberate rising in favor of Ortega?

What are our foreign relations? Who will assure us that the United States will continue their sympathy after this coup d’état, as they always follow principles, and not persons?

And what an instrument to our disadvantage will be this act in the hands of our enemies when knowledge of it becomes diffused to the world at large.

Anarchy? It is a word, under the circumstances, which terrifies more than it injures; it exists already, and through it may be saved the national honor.

There can be no anarchy when there is unity in thought, and this unity employed to put down the invasion. If Arteaga and Regules, Fernando Ortega, Riva Palacios, and Rosales, and all the chiefs, had been subjected to or omitted from our orders, what would have become of the country? Anarchy is horrible when the ambition of different men is loosened to run not. Then the struggle between the strong and the weak commences on the same soil. But the country without a head would have an insurrection, and that this would be common will be the supreme good of the country. Would not the nation be convulsed to see the flag of the invader disappear, only to give place to another equally illegal and equally detested?

In any case should evil befall the country, Juarez and those who have allured him to his ruin will stand the blame, and not those who follow the path of duty and honor respecting the public will of the country, which is expressly mentioned in their fundamental code. I even go further, and suppose this extraordinary feat of jugglery of Juarez to terminate happily. Is it honorable to follow him? Is it right to acknowledge such a vaulting over the law? Ought we to tolerate this act, thus authorizing others of a similar nature which would very soon follow? For my part I will not.

I have been so candid with you so far that not even the fear of the constitution’s being broken stops me. Our cause is so grand that the glory of driving out the invaders would be unfading, and this might tempt me to act against the laws; but no; that would be reputation for the life of the country. I have not done it yet. I am not frightened.

[Page 349]

I am frightened to contemplate Juarez as a revolutionist, inert, crippled, haggling, occupying himself with misrepresentations, or in elevating the baseness of vengeance against a certain person to the height of a state question. Can you imagine Juarez as a revolutionist? What are the rights of this man? What his strength? Are the destinies of a country to be subverted at the call of a scene shifter? Can this rushing of a country into perdition be caused by cautious but deceitful night vigils and thought? Is it virtue to break the law? Is it right to be the judge in your own case? Is it honorable that the culprit should turn the tables on his judge and declare him a thief, because he happens to acquire a temporal power?

I repeat that I grope in darkness and know not where to turn.

How obscure and treacherous is this document; how it omits the name of Ortega; what an innocent and natural air it bears. If we say to the government, Here, that artful idea, that order, is an ambush from behind which you will assassinate the legitimate possessor of what you declare to be your inheritance; then they might say, What do you deduce from? Damn anathemas on the calumniator. Shame and punishment to the suspicious rogue!

I saw this intrigue coming and I threw up my position, because I had neither labor to perform nor means of livelihood. My renouncement of office was not accepted, and I was retained so as to martyrize me, or for the purpose of having me desert my position in an infamous way, so that this desertion might be used as a gag to stop my just reproof of what I knew to be a turning of the truth, the abjuration of the law, the improbable transformation of the legitimate government into a strolling company of actors, who wish to enact plays after the manner of Napoleon the Little, and, 0 shame! after the style of Maximilian the Rickety!

Can you imagine what I have suffered? Can you imagine my situation when I am the exception among those gentlemen?

I am yours, affectionately,

GUILLERMO PRIEIO.

[Untitled]

Paso del Norte, October 1, 1865.

My Dear Friend and Sir: The last two times in which I have seen you, you have manifested that you were displeased with me. This displeasure is caused doubtlessly by my having, in a thoughtless moment, disclosed my ideas at a public entertainment, but which I am proud to say were conformable to the law and the honor of the government. Having lost your esteem, I miss one of the most powerful reasons for being near your person, as well as the small recompense of eight years of public service, in all of which time I have given patent proofs of my loyalty to the cause, and of affection to you personally. Misrepresentation is a degradation, and I have remained here so as not to degrade myself. I beg of you as a special favor that you give an order, causing the labors of the administration of the post offices to cease, which in fact are useless, for I neither have anything to do in that respect, nor have I any salary, and this order will rid you of me, and rid me from being the victim of penury.

I am, as ever, your servant and friend,

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

Benito Juarez.

[Untitled]

Paso del Norte, October 1, 1865.

My Dear Friend: I answer your letter of to-day by saying that I cannot give the order to stop the administration of post offices as you wish, because that would be equivalent to the government commencing the destruction of public administration. Let the enemy destroy it if they have the power, and such should be the destiny of my country, but I shall neither do it nor allow it to be done so long as I am able to prevent it. If you have been wanting in circumspection in the matter of which you speak I can say nothing, as you have a faithful and sincere friend which can satisfy you by approving or disapproving your conduct; that friend is your own conscience, to which I appeal without having the necessity of verbal explanations in this matter, or any other particulars which you may not wish to inform me of, or I may wish to ask of you.

Before closing this letter I ask of you a favor, which is. that you bring to your memory that I never have said to you nor authorized you to say to General Gonzalez Ortega, in my name, that he could remain indefinitely away from his country. It has never been my pleasure to tell any one to do anything but what he liked best. Neither have I authorized any one to pursue the road of dishonor.

I am, as always, your true friend,

BENITO JUAREZ.

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

[Untitled]

Paso del Norte, October 1, 1865.

My Esteemed Friend and Sir: I did not wish for an order to destroy the administration of post offices, but that the labors of it should cease, which in fact is the case. I have appealed to my conscience, and that is not only satisfied but proud. I have never written one single syllable to General Ortega, neither as coming from myself nor yourself, in regard to your feelings about his indefinite permanency away from his country. Once, in a private conversation between Iglesias (minister of hacienda and gobernacion, in the Juarez cabinet) and myself, I said to him that Ortega had written to you through me, in which letter he expressed a wish to labor for our country in the United States, and asking your approbation. In answer to which letter you told me that you had said to him to act in conjunction with Romero, (Mexican minister to the United States.) I added in that conversation that, taking this reply as a guide, you were not averse to his remaining away from his country. This answer covers the grounds of your letter to me, which ought neither to offend you nor suspect your future intentions, and gives you proof of my proceedings. Any way, if you can in any manner so fix it as to enable me to separate myself from my position, so that it will not appear as if I had been expelled, but only as a matter of delicacy on my part, I shall be very much obliged if you will inform me as to the manner.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

Benito Juarez.

[Untitled]

Paso del Norte, October 1, 1865.

My Esteemed Friend: I am sure that I could never have told you that I would have answered Ortega by telling him to act in concert with Romero. I recollect having answered Ortega on the 7th day of September last, simply telling him that he could not receive the authority which he asked for, and this is the first time that I have ever told any one what I had written to your constituent, (Ortega.) I am very happy to know that you have so clear and proud a conscience; for that being the case, you will live tranquilly.

I cannot grant your prayer in regard to the ceasing of the labors of the general administration of post offices, because I have not the wish to assist the invaders of Mexico in discrediting the administration of my country. I cannot tell you, either, to leave your office, because I have neither a motive to tell you so, nor does the government repel you, nor are you a stumbling block in the way.

I am your affectionate friend,

BENITO JUAREZ.

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

[Untitled]

Paso del Norte, October 2, 1865.

My Esteemed Friend and Sir: When I, in May or June last, placed a letter from Mr. Ortega into your hands, I am sure that you then said to me that you were going to answer Ortega to the effect that he should act in concert with Romero. If you did or did not do it I cannot say, neither do I know what you said to him in your letter of last month. The former idea, that is to say, that of May or June, I communicated to Mr. Iglesias then, and this is a proof to me that I am not mistaken.

I do not think that there would have been dishonor in suspending the labors of the general administration of post offices, nor with my ceasing to operate would the invaders have been assisted, for by the same reasoning is it not ridiculous to believe that the ceasing of the administration of sealed paper, public lotteries and custom-houses, have also assisted the invasion? I proposed that I should be considered as having resigned, for the reason that the public should not know that there could be a cause of difference between you and myself. To stop all further doubts, and to close a correspondence which occupies your attention, I herewith send my resignation, which I hope as a great and only favor, may be at once attended to.

I am your affectionate servant,

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

Benito Juarez.

[Copy of resignation.]

Office of General Administration of P. O., Paso del Norte, October 2, 1865.

There being no duties to perform in the general administration of post offices, and my presence in this place being of no consequence to my cause—on the contrary, a source of [Page 351] unpleasant feelings—I beg of you to entreat the President to grant me leave to reside wherever I may see fit, and if this should seem impossible, to admit the formal resignation which I make to the office of general administrator of post offices.

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

The Minister of State.

[Untitled]

Paso del Norte, October 2, 1865.

My Esteemed Friend: I perfectly well recollect that I did not tell you what I was going to answer Ortega when you brought me his letter. I said that I would answer him in a courteous and polite manner and nothing more.

I will present your resignation to the proper parties, and in due time will communicate to you their resolution.

Your affectionate friend,

BENITO JUAREZ.

Guillermo Prieto.

[Untitled]

Republican Army of Mexico, Office of Brigadier General, San Antonio de Bexar, February 6, 1866.

Notwithstanding the several supreme decrees which would have justified me at different times to have separated myself from the Mexican government, yet their indisputable title to legality made me remain at the side of Mr Juarez, where I would now be were it not for the decrees of the 8th of November, which I consider as an attempt against constitutional order.

When General Comonfort, colleaguing with a portion of the army, shielding himself behind the memory of glorious deeds, and flattered by parties interested, gave his coup d état, I, in my humble position, withdrew from the armed mob, and did not vacillate an instant in giving my support to him who was president of the supreme court of justice, and who shortly entered into the exercise of the presidential power. In the struggle for reform, I had the honor to be one of the number who composed the army that, victorious in the capital, were the first to aggrandize the head of the government, so that in his aggrandizement might be seen the triumph of the law. During the present war, the more adverse to our cause was fortune, the more inseparable have I been to the government, and Mr. Juarez will bear me witness, that on treading the confines of the republic, when it appeared that we touched the limits of our territory and our hopes at the same time, I was one of the few who carried that far their faith and respect for the government which still upheld the tattered but glorious banner of the nation.

The decrees of the 8th of November changed the face of affairs, and threw the country back to the times when an obscure plot displaced the will of the nation; and when reason, which is the law, ceded its place to arbitrariness, which is nothing but a manifestation of tyranny, I found myself more than any one else obliged to separate myself from the so-called government, because to a soldier there was not even the excuse that power was retained so as to continue the struggle, for the same coup d état only asked from the people their indifference in exchange for the government’s inaction.

I have arrived here, after extreme difficulty, so that you who have the legitimate title to, and imperious duty of saving the independence and laws of the country, might see me at your side in the station and manner which you may see fit, when you head the ranks of the defenders of independence.

Having made this declaration, I comply with the duties which honor imposes on me; and if, through any motive which I beforehand respect, you should not find it convenient to present yourself within the republic, I will go and join any soldiers who carry our flag as their symbol, without having lost for one moment faith in the holiness of our cause through your absence; and thus I shall not be in the sad condition of him who tramples the laws and honor of his country under foot to save our independence, nor of him who compounds with the transgressions of Mr. Juarez.

My acts will, at any rate, serve to explain my opinions, and be a proof that I neither received nor complied with the watchword to break, by force of arms, the rights of the nation.

Liberty and reform!

FERNANDO POUSEL.

General Jesus G. Ortega, Constitutional President of the Republic of Mexico.

[Untitled]

Army of the Mexican Republic, Office of Brigadier General, San Antonio de Bexar, December 18, 1865.

In the month of August of last year government left the city of Chihuahua and went to Paso del Norte, giving the order to the chiefs and officers who were attached to and followed it, that they might choose a place of residence in any place not occupied by the enemy, and also that it should not be El Paso del Norte In accordance with these orders, several chiefs, and I among them, took the road to Presidio del Norte, and there, in unison with General Negrete, and inspired by our patriotism, we fortunately got together a few arms so as to be able to hostilize the enemy. Two months passed, during which time I became convinced that the resources of the State being frittered away, and the executive taking no initiative part, our efforts would be useless. I vacillated between going into the interior of the republic to join some other forces, or to go to the United States, there to try and procure arms, when I had reason to know that Juarez was seriously plotting his perpetuation in power, which would, in reality, incapacitate national defence, and convert the army into the escort of a usurper. I entered the career of arms with liberty as a god father. I wished to enter into citizenship on the field of battle, because the war which then raged was for the liberties and regeneration of the masses; and the commencement of my career and the advent of Juarez to power coinciding, I neither had any other name nor other flag to invoke, nor any other cause than that with which he has been identified.

His transformation into a revolutionist was his disappearance from legal right, and an army could only serve him for uses entirely personal. The evils which I then foresaw, the sentiments which from that moment animated me, and my acknowledgment of yourself as President of the republic after the 30th of November, I made manifest to you through a commissioner which I sent to New York in August last, I coming to this city to reside, where I have, as you know, been as useful as I could be to the common cause of our country. This is the simple explanation of my conduct; I think it fully justified, not only from my inward feelings of conscience, not only from the rigid test of the laws, whose unequivocal tenor condemns Mr. Juarez, not only on account of public feeling, which, as it leaks out, shows the bitterness felt for the painful loss of one of our glories—for the name of Juarez was one of our national glories—but on account of the overturning of the legal order, and the danger to independence, because governments to be strong must be just, and usurpation carries within itself the germs of weakness and annihilation. I, one of the least of citizens, but in my expression of national conscience as great as any, have wished to protest by my conduct against the coup d état of Mr. Juarez, so as to be witness that among all classes, and on behalf of all who love their country, there is a unanimous feeling against this overturning of the public right of the nation, against the criminal attempt to divide the lawful cause of the country, and against the probable effect of giving cause for anarchy and fraternal war in the midst of our foreign invasion, and the danger, even if triumphant in this horrible invasion, of receiving the terrible inheritance of civil war and capricious rule’s. Having thus expressed my feelings, and fully convinced that you are the legitimate head of the government, I place myself at your orders, so that I may be employed, even if only as a common soldier, in the defence of national independence. Independence and liberty!

M. QUESADA.

Jesus G Ortega, President of the Republic of Mexico.

[Untitled]

New York, February 22, 1866.

Sir: I herewith send you a copy of the letter which I sent to Mr. Benito Juarez on the 7th of October, of last year. You will note the frankness with which I always express myself, and more than ever when my feelings are brought in contact with the politics of my country.

Benito Juarez, blinded in the extreme, has just given a terrible blow, not only against the constitution and nationality of the republic of Mexico, but against himself. I trust that he may yet turn his steps and arrive at a full knowledge of the gravity of the crime which he has committed. As in my letter I dilate fully upon the conduct which, in my belief, Mr. Juarez ought to observe, I omit repeating it here, but I wish it to be understood that I protest against the decree of the 8th of November, 1865, given by the referred to Juarez, whom I not only consider as an infamous blot in a government which is known as a constitutional one, but as the volume in which is recorded the expropriation of the rights which belong to a people, and which are now intrusted by them to the president of the supreme court of justice.

Independence and liberty!

JOAQUIN VILLALOBOS.

General Jesus G. Ortega, President of the Republic of Mexico.

[Untitled]

New York, October 7, 1865.

Sir: The extraordinary events now transpiring in our country is the reason why I direct myself to you, to manifest what my opinion of the actual state of the political horizon is, and what I consider as just and necessary. Do not look on this letter as from a philosopher, which I am not, nor as the result of a partiality. What I wish to say to you now is instigated by my love for my country, and for those republican institutions which fortunately still rule us. Take this letter in that light and hear me.

One of the great motives which has actuated France in originating an intervention, has been the disorder and want of respect to the laws in which Mexicans have always lived. Unfortunately, our reform, which originated the agony and death of the retrograde party, caused necessarily, a civil war, but which, in Europe, was not so considered as necessary. Each party, which had come into existence up to the time of the revolution of Ayutla, had put forward their leaders, only to depose them in turn, and the conservative party, incorrigible to the last, owes its downfall to the villany of its acts and men. Not so the liberal party, which, convinced that its only guide could be law, pursued from the Ayutla revolution a legal path; and neither defeat nor obstacle has made it change from its original resolution.

The desertion of Mr. Alvarez, which was rather turbulent, compromised materially our situation, but, fortunately, a pacific arrangement quieted everything and opened the path to the presidency for Mr. Comonfort. This gentleman, who unfortunately misunderstood the part he was to play, and wished to become the gratuitous thief of what he legally possessed, brought to light the famous coup d état, and, in doing this, infringed the law and changed public opinion.

You know perfectly well what the result was of this notorious act. The church party extended its arms to the chief of the revolution, not to embrace him, but to strangle him, and Comonfort, undeceived a few hours after his treason, knew that military force had lost its influence in the country, and that nothing but the law held full dominion. We have here the reason why this apostate of Ayutla opened your prison doors and left you at liberty to join the army which was waiting for you, and who unanimously acknowledged you as the head of the government. Nearly all the States lent their adhesion to you and offered to sustain you.

It is undoubtedly the case that when Comonfort violated his oath he left the field open for the ambitious success of many influential politicians, and that it was to be feared that each particular faction, civil or military, should each take a separate and distinct road. However, this was not the case; on the contrary, every republican of any note, capable of successfully playing his ambitious part, constituted himself into a bulwark of the law, and recognized Benito Juarez as the legitimate successor to the presidency of Mexico

It is needless to follow the course of that struggle; suffice it to say, that in all the defeats of our army, and in all the confusion naturally originating from so many rebuffs, your authority was never questioned, and even when you had to leave the country and embark on foreign waters and travel through foreign countries to return, it was never disrespected or doubted. Vera Cruz, which was the place chosen by the republican government for a temporary capital, opened its doors to the supreme authority of the nation; it raised its walls and gave its sons for the defence of the law in Benito Juarez. The triumph of the national cause was finally obtained, and the capital of the republic offered a seat in its palace to the legitimate President.

Later, and through legal steps, the election for constitutional President was held. A portion of the people voted against you, but a majority elected you to that position, and you were recognized as President by all parties.

From that time the opposition (to which party I belong) has criticised your official acts through the press, but always lawfully, and never have advised that you should be dispossessed by force of arms of your position.

This, without doubt, would be sufficient to prove the respect rendered by Mexicans for duly elected authorities; but God, who, doubtless, wished to demonstrate in a stronger manner our respect for the law, caused foreign intervention to be landed on our shores, so as to completely prove our solidity. In vain have Napoleon and his soldiers tried to disavow, and caused to be disavowed, the President of Mexico. The invader has overrun our country for three years, in every direction, and has been unable to overturn the lawful pedestal on which our banner rests. All the forces who rise to defend the republic do it in the name of Juarez, the laws which are given forth are signed by Juarez, and an account of all the battles won or lost is made to Juarez, and the Mexican United States, who follow no model not fashioned by the law, acknowledge no other authority nor legitimate power excepting that of Juarez. It will, doubtless, be asked; if it is the person who accomplishes all this acknowledgment. Is it Benito Juarez, solely as Benito Juarez, who does all this? Undoubtedly no. He may be possessed of sufficient virtues to command great respect, but [Page 354] what the Mexican United States and society recognize is not Benito Juarez, but the legality of the law.

Well, sir, after these hasty remarks and reflections, imagine my surprise to learn that a few Mexicans (residing in New York, calling themselves your friends, and also of our nationality, without being one or other) say, that notwithstanding your term of office has expired, you ought to continue in power, alleging reasons which are far from being satisfactory. These persons, unwittingly, are striving to dim the glory of your term, and would hurl us into sad confusion. No one is ignorant of the path pursued from the time of Ayutla to this date, yet it seems as if this interesting branch of Mexican history is not known by these imprudent advisers. The republic has no other method of being saved except through a respect for its laws, and if consent was given, through a false conviction, to their counsels to violate legality, any one would hereafter have the right to rise as sovereign and rule at his pleasure.

One of the reasons given by those who wish you to continue as President is, that General Gonzalez Ortega will not maintain the rights of the nation with safety, and will occasion the loss of a country which you have so worthily defended. I do not wish to judge of this. It may be that they are right, or they may be wrong; but what there is no doubt about is, that your continuation in office illegally, and the resistance to turn over the government which the law demands should be turned over, would make you, not the President of the republic of Mexico, but only a revolutionist. One great proof of the obedience of a people who love republican institutions to their laws is, that after the death of Lincoln, Johnson, without a murmur from the masses, took his seat as President. Europe, which accused the republics of being based on false systems of government, on seeing this changed its tone, and loudly sang a thousand praises in honor of the system which it had attacked. When, finally, the universe has understood that it makes but little difference to a people, who obey their laws, who disappears, and that order is still maintained; when we have such glorious examples before us, shall we, Mexicans, be the first to defile the republic, and give our more scandalous example to the world? Which would be greater for Juarez—to revolutionize and anarchize his country, or deliver up the trust which the law demands, and thus satisfy both the law and his conscience? How grand a spectacle would it be to see on the wide desert of Mexican politics, where there is scarcely a green spot large enough to spread our book of codes, to see two men open this book, and changing the leaves, take or leave power without a struggle and in perfect harmony. What chief of Mexico would doubt the validity of this act, and would not take courage to plume his ambition in honorable flight? The occupation by Johnson of his elevated position would be no more an act worthy to be extolled as belonging to the republican form of government than would be offered by you by so just an example. Then would all the severe criticisms of many writers, who exaggerate and even misunderstand our manner of government, be tempered in their censures, and these scribblers no more throw dirt in our faces. Then would the celebrated Richard Cobden be once more in the wrong, for he has declared that the republic of Mexico was ungovernable, and that civilization would never enter its doors.

Yes, Mr. Juarez, you can now be the greatest or most contemptible man of our country. Your conduct can either lower us to the lowest depths or elevate us to the orbits of great nations. Do not become responsible to future generations for evil consequences, nor lend a willing ear to aught but the voice of the law and your own conscience. Fortunately you are in the position to act as few others. You have borne the national standard nobly for three years and one-half, in cities and in mountains, and on the same Mexican soil you can turn it over to your successor. If he takes it to the capital of the republic, not on this account will your glory be dimmed; but if, unhappily, this flag should be dishonored in the hands of the new President, there will remain the satisfaction to you of having been able to fulfil what others could not do.

Excuse my thus writing to you; and I repeat that if these remarks are not the best counsels I can give, they are still to the point.

Respectfully,

JOAQUIN VILLLOBOS.

Benito Juarez.

[Untitled]

The Mexicans who sign below, residing at this date in New York, on account of not wishing to recognize either the so-called empire of Maximilian or foreign intervention, and knowing that the legitimate base for the sustenance of democratic principles, and of the nationality of the Mexican republic of Mexico, consists in obeying blindly the fundamental compact which binds the nation together, therefore, whatever Mexican spurns said fundamental compact is not worthy of consideration only as a creditor for the severest punishments: therefore,

[Page 355]

1st. We protest against the decree of Benito Juarez, given on the 8th of November, 1865, wherein he declares himself President.

2d We recognize as President of the republic of Mexico, during the time accorded to him by the law, General Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, president of the supreme court, and consequently legitimate successor to Mr. Benito Juarez.

3d. A copy of this shall be sent to citizen Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, to do as he likes with, and the original shall be preserved for whatever may occur wherein it may be needed.

JUAN TONGO, Colonel in the Mexican Army.

J. RIYERA.

JUAN N. ENRIQUEZ ORESTES.

New York, February 20,1866.

No. 4.

Supplement to the first pamphlet of documents published by General Gonzalez Ortega, to excite a rebellion among his countrymen against the national government of Mexico. (No. 6.)

Another word to the Mexican people: General Gonzalez Ortega published a pamphlet in this city, containing letters and other signed documents from Mexicans opposed to the decrees of the national government, issued the 8th of November last, concerning the continuation of Juarez’s presidential term and Ortega’s responsibility He says he did not publish many answers to letters addressed to persons at a distance, because they were private, as if a public opinion could not be expressed in a private letter, as it is done by Patoni, Prieto, and Villalobos, in their letters, published by Ortega in his pamphlet. We do not think the resolutions drawn up in New York, by Tongo and Jacob Rivera, and Priest Henry Orestes, as a public document To supply Ortega’s omission, we publish this pamphlet as a supplement to his. It contains the replies of Berriozabal, Zarco, Baz, Tovar, Cuevas, and Robert to the circular mentioned, which Ortega did not publish, because they were private. There is also one letter from Alejandro Garcia, addressed to Juarez, expressing his sentiments and those of his constituents, on the subject of the decrees; and one from Gregorio Mendez, governor of Tabasco, to Juarez, on the same subject. We also insert a note of Mr. Romero, Mexican minister, to the government of the United States, and Mr. Seward’s reply, on the same subject. A letter from Joaquin Villalobos to General Green Clay Smith, member of Congress from Kentucky, and answer, are added.

We could have inserted many more from distinguished patriots who are fighting for independence, but we refrain, because our only aim is to complete the collection of documents published by General Ortega, with letters he has omitted. For the same reason we make no comments. Yet it is a mystery to us why General Ortega made such an incomplete publication, compelling us to finish it, and thus make it impartial. The general’s antecedents prevent us from suspecting him of wishing to aid the enemy, and yet we must say that every attempt to disparage the republic is aid to the enemy. Did Mr. Ortega reflect that if the national government at Paso del Norte is not recognized, there is no other to acknowledge but Maximilian’s? Can be assert that Mexico has no government, neither in fact nor in law? If the United States should disavow the government of Juarez, would they recognize that of Ortega, not as good? The probability is the United States would say, “Since there is no national government in Mexico, there is no alternative but to recognize Maximilian,” for they certainly would not break off all commerce with a country to which they are bound by many ties. Does General Ortega look at the sad picture he would make of our country, the delight of all its enemies? He must see that his efforts to secure the presidency of the Mexican republic excite a sedition against the existing government and give our detractors a reason to say we cannot govern ourselves; that we are essentially anarchical; that, in the hour of calamity, when we ought to think of nothing but the country, give aid to the government, and lend it all our holy efforts, we raise a new party, with no aim but to satisfy an ignoble ambition; we weaken ourselves and contribute to the triumph of our conquerors.

As political friends of General Ortega, we will give him some advice, though we doubt if he needs it after that given to his secretary by Mr. Green Clay Smith. If he really thought himself entitled to the presidency, he should have been present at Paso del Norte before the 30th of November, 1865, to decide the question and take possession of the office, if it belonged to him. But that time has passed, and all he can now do is to say: “While the constitutional authority is settling the question in dispute, I will contribute with my sword to the defence of independence, under the government formed by the people.”

The place for a man who has been made general by his country is not in foreign cities, [Page 356] revelling in the enchantments of a crowded population, without leave, without a commission or order from his government, while a foreign war is waged at home; but to him, the field of honor is his distracted country.

MANY MEXICANS.

Washington, April 4,1866.

[Untitled]

San Juan Bautista, February 2,1866.

Very Distinguished and Esteemed Sir: Your two acceptable letters reached me the 27th of October and 9th of November last.

* * * * * * * * *

I will have the decrees Mr. Romero sent me published to-morrow, and with great pleasure, for the whole State approves of them as well as myself. There is no man of greater merit than you in the nation, nor one who has given more hope by taking the supreme command at a time when constant changes created great distrust. The trial of Ortega is a fact that gives influence to the government from the morality it infuses into our society, and especially among our great men, accustomed to stand upon their dignity for protection, for it makes their offences more serious.

* * * * * * * * *

G. MENDEZ.

Don Benito Juarez, President of the Republic, Chihuahua.

[Untitled]

New York, February 23,1866.

Esteemed Friend: I received the circular issued at San Antonio, on the 3d instant, only to-day. In it you ask me what I think of the decrees of President Juarez, issued on the 8th of November last. In asking this question you say you are supported by the right the nation has to know the conduct of their public men. I acknowledge and approve of the right, and will act upon it when the time comes—that is, when I am called to account by the nation; but you will excuse me for making a difference between you and the nation, and if I do not consider myself obliged to answer your interrogatories. You address me as a member of congress, and consider me as called upon to express my opinion about national affairs. It might be so if congress was in session, but as I am now out of it, I do not consider myself obliged to answer I was elected for two years, from the 15th of September, 1862, to the same time in 1864; so I am not now a member. You say: “The defence of independence demands that no opposing banners shall be raised.” As a private Mexican citizen, who is not a judge of his country to decide the acts of his government, I agree with you, and will do my best to support that government. As there would be no use in the further expression of my opinion, you will pardon me for not answering more particularly. As I am not a public character, and am not called upon to decide political questions and judge the acts of my government, I beg you to consider this a private letter.

Yours, &c.,

JUAN J. BAZ.

Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega.

[Untitled]

New York, February 23, 1866.

My Much Esteemed Friend: I have just received your circular of the 3d, from San Antonio, enclosing a protest against the decrees of the 8th of November last, issued by citizen Benito Juarez, constitutional President, and his minister Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, and asking my opinion of those acts.

I will not answer your note officially, because I am a member of Congress, as you know, one of the chief bodies of the nation, absolutely independent, and none of its members can be called to account for a year after the close of the. session, and then only legally by the executive or judiciary, according to certain laws; so if I answered you officially I would pass for an ignoramus, and would make myself responsible to the body to which I belong, and to the nation whose laws I have violated. To tell you, then, which side I take would be equivalent to raising one of those banners of revolt that you condemn, and which concerns an internal question in which I do not wish to meddle during this crisis of the republic. As I am a friend of order, I have always condemned any misconduct of my fellow-citizens. I am no blind partisan of any cause, and I think the unfortunate situation of our country is owing, in part, to the want of zeal, good judgment, morality, and purity in some of its former rulers, and to the odious treason of some of its native-born sons

At this solemn time I am only thinking of its independence, the union of all Mexicans who have firmness and constancy in their hearts, and are enthusiatic in their efforts to repel [Page 357] the enemy—the invader who is trying to take the country the early revolutionists gave us, the same country now defended by the soldiers of liberty. Without a country, we would have no territory or inhabitants to enforce institutions and test legality; no tribunals to determine the responsibility of those who have failed to do their duty, and thus done evil to their country.

On learning you were in the city of New York, I am rejoiced to hear you have the firm resolution of attending to national interests, and of returning to the territory to continue the defence of independence; for when that is safe, all the rest will follow. I am sure you will provoke no discord, but will join in the union for salvation; and then those who have been injured will be revenged, and the guilty will meet with a just punishment.

I did not come here of my own will, but by superior order, to fulfil a commission, which I fear I will not be able to perform for want of means. When my business is over and my health restored, if not ordered to remain, I will return to Mexico. I consider myself obliged to make this reply known to my fellow-members. I hope this candid answer will not diminish our former friendship.

LEANDRO CUEVAS.

General Jesus Gonzales Ortega.

[Untitled]

New York, February 23, 1866

Esteemed Friend and Comrade: I received your communication of the 3d instant, issued at San Antonio, only this day, with several copies of your protest against the decrees of the 8th November of last year, and a manifest to the nation on the same subject.

You ask me, as a member of congress, how I received the decrees—if I approve them or not. In the first place, I must inform you I am not a member of congress, though I was at the last session, which ended in 1864; so, as a member, I have nothing to say about the decrees. This ought to be a full answer to your question; but, without saying whether the Juarez government is in fact or in law the right one, it is certainly the only one we have, and we ought to support it. I for one am disposed to obey all orders from it, and will stick to the national defence.

From your manifest and what you say in your letter I am convinced you are persuaded of the harm two parties would now bring to the republic. We are weak, and must keep united to resist the ills that foreigners would bring upon us. The country must have a single government, a centre round which to concentrate and to have a proper effect abroad. It would give a great advantage to the invaders if the country were divided. Therefore, I repeat, I will stand by the government in its defence of the nation.

This resolution is entirely disinterested, for I have nothing to gain from the national party; but it is my duty as a Mexican, particularly under the present trying circumstances, to lay aside all personalities and act for the public good.

I do not entirely approve of the tenor of the decrees, particularly of that portion relating to you, for I think they can do no good in these troublous times, when all ought to be friendly and united in the same holy cause. I am glad I have taken no part in them; for, if they are enforced, harm will certainly result, the country will be split into parties, and anarchy will prevail. As a Mexican and a friend I advise you to remain firm in your patriotism, unless you seek harm. The world is looking at us, and our enemies will take advantage of every imprudence to show that we cannot govern ourselves, and this they are constantly repeating. I hope you will excuse me for replying to your official communication in this letter; but as I am not now a public character, and as you have no right to question a citizen on such a serious subject, I must return your note, and sign myself, &c.,

FELIPE B. BERRIOZABAL.

General Jesus G. Ortega.

[Untitled]

New York, February 24, 1866.

Much Esteemed Friend: Your communication of the 3d from San Antonio reached me yesterday. You ask my opinion about the decrees of the 8th November, prolonging the Juarez presidency. Your excuse for the interrogation is the right the nation has to know the conduct of its public men, and your right to obtain that information.

You address me as a member of congress; I am not, nor have I been since 1864. I am a Mexican citizen, who preferred living in a foreign country to submitting to French intervention, since I could be of no service to the national cause. But on account of my former friendship with you, and because I never make a mystery of my opinions, I will give them to you privately in this letter. I do not acknowledge you have a right to ask me these questions, but from courtesy I will answer them.

[Page 358]

If the nation hereafter desires to know what I am now doing abroad I can tell it; but till that time, I choose to keep silence.

My former conduct in regard to legal order and progressive principles is well known to my fellow-countrymen, and my efforts to maintain the supremacy of the law have been constant, both through the press and by public acts, and I have been persecuted by factions conspiring against legality and by the enemies of liberty. As to my approval or disapproval here of acts of the government of Mexico, representing our nationality, I would be failing in my duty if I excited controversies that could only serve to strengthen the foreign usurpers. My only desire is the independence of our country; in presence of this holy wish everything else seems low and contemptible. I insist that intervention and monarchy are most atrocious injustice and scandalous outrage, and that the people of Mexico, oppressed, conquered, disgraced, will never submit to a foreign yoke, but will ever struggle for their republican institutions; and I think that is also the duty of those Mexicans who are living out of the country, without thinking of domestic dissensions.

The decree in which Mr. Juarez prolongs his presidential mandate seems to me to be given conformably to the powers granted to him by congress to sustain the situation, and they are within the restrictions imposed upon him. He can do anything not prohibited; so I understand the spirit that guided congress, and in this conception I drew up the bill that became a law, and supported it in debate as a member of the committee of relations.

As a plain citizen, I therefore recognize Juarez as the legitimate President of the Mexican republic, and I wish the most influence and greatest success to his government, the existence of which, before the world, is identified with our nationality. Do not infer from this that I approve of all the acts of the government. If I see some errors, I deplore them and regret them, and I think no private citizen should censure our ruler when the enemy is upon us. If the government acts wrong, makes mistakes, the day will come when it may be called to account, and the country will do justice and pronounce a sentence or remunerate.

In the mean time there is no sacrifice the aggrieved or offended in any way should not make for the government, no matter if it has not taken their advice or made use of their services; The first and least painful of these sacrifices is silence, because every voice that calls out against Mexico is heard in favor of the invader. There is only one case where silence is not necessary, in my opinion, and in which the government would lose all its legitimacy, and make the cause of the rebellion just and holy—that is, by its accepting intervention; but fortunately this case is impossible, and on this point there is no one who does not feel the greatest confidence in the patriotism and constancy of the President of the republic.

I have not hesitated to speak to you frankly, because I see from your communication you are opposed to the raising of two flags, and because you are prepared for every sacrifice to save your country. You who have the glory to have been one of the chief soldiers in the restoration of order, and who have done so much in the present foreign war, will exalt yourself more in the eyes of your fellow-citizens by this sacrifice, if to refrain from raising another banner in Mexico, to increase our dissensions, to weaken us, and to make the defence of independence impossible, can be called a sacrifice.

As I serenely contemplate the situation of our country, I do not despair of its future; my only hope is to see Mexico free and independent.

My opinion is the more impartial as I have nothing to fear or to expect from you or Juarez; and I am sure, after independence is recovered, we had better give way to new men, who are younger and stronger, for revolutions break down those who take part in them.

Your friend and servant,

FRANCISCO ZARCO.

Jesus Gonzales Ortega.

[Untitled]

Tlacotalpam, February 26, 1866.

Dear Sir and Friend: I yesterday received from Mr. Romero your esteemed letter of the 10th November last, mentioning your decree prolonging the presidential term, and naming General Dias chief of the eastern line, and appointing me second.

I said in mine of the 14th that I had ordered a vote on the subject long before I had received the decree and accompanying documents, and the result is a unanimous assent to the decrees. I am now publishing the resolutions in the official bulletin, which I send you as it comes out. I also send them to Mr. Romero for the information of the United States, and I will continue to do so, and will send the complete document to the department of government.

Though I cannot send you all these resolutions at once, as I said before, you can act with the assurance that all the eastern line is in your favor.

ALEJANDRO GARCIA.

Don Benito Juarez, President of the Mexican Republic.

[Untitled]

New York, February 27, 1866.

Very Dear Sir: I received your circular of the 3d, published in San Antonio, (Texas,) this day. You ask me, as a member of congress, my opinion in regard to the decree of the 8th November, prolonging the presidential term till a new election can take place.

Believing the constitutional government has acted in conformity with the powers conferred upon him by congress, I have never opposed its acts, as I think, as you do, it would be unpatriotic.

I tell you this, not because you have a right to ask me, but because my opinions are public, and politeness to you prompts me to answer you.

Yours, &c.,

CIPRIANO ROBERT.

Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, Present.

[Private.]

[Untitled]

New York, February 28, 1866.

Much Esteemed Friend: I have received your circular, your protest, and your manifest of the 3d instant, in regard to the decree of President Juarez continuing his presidential term while the French continue to invade Mexico.

I am surprised you ask my opinion in the matter, since nobody has the right to question me in such things. Moreover, I am not now a member of Congress, for my term expired in 1864. But for politeness, I will tell you what I think. I think the President acted in accordance with article 128 of the constitution when he issued the decrees mentioned. Now the three powers of the nation are the President, the supreme court, and congress.

The President is first, and the natural guardian elected by the people. His duty is to protect it under all circumstances, particularly in times of foreign invasion. Next to him comes the president of the supreme court of justice, also elected by the people, and intended to fill the President’s place in case of default. Then comes congress, which is put last, because in troublous times that body cannot always be kept together.

I could adduce many occurrences of the last eight years in support of my opinion; but what I have already said will make you understand why I think citizen Juarez was right in promulgating the decrees in question. And there is another strong reason why I must acknowledge Juarez as President of the republic—the troubles afflicting the country. If I had been in the country at the time the decrees were issued, even if I had been opposed to them, I would have kept my opinion secret, and continued to tight for the independence of the country. I am rejoiced at your resolve not to divide the party by hoisting a new banner, and earnestly exhort you to join us against the usurpers of our nationality.

As ever, your friend, &c.,

PANTELEON TOVAR.

Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega.

[Untitled]

New York, February 28, 1866.

Dear Sir: I see by the papers that you, as a good American who takes an interest in Mexican affairs, have asked the Executive when Juarez’s presidential term would expire. You also ask if an election has taken place, or can take place during intervention

As all the documents on this subject are soon to be published, I beg you to wait till then, that you may learn all about it, and act accordingly. I will send you from time to time what is intended for publication.

Respectfully, &c.,

JOAQUIN VILLALOBOS.

Mr. Green Clay Smith, Member of House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

[Untitled]

Washington, March 2, 1866.

Dear Sir: Yours of the 28th has reached me. I am obliged to you for the information you offer in regard to the close of the administration of President Juarez

My object in offering the resolution was to have a publication of all the documents pertaining to the subject now in the hands of the Executive, and they ought to be complete, for the information of Congress as well as the people.

Your most obedient servant,

GREEN CLAY SMITH.

Mr. Joaquin Villalobos, New York.

[Untitled]

New York, April 3, 1866.

Much Esteemed Friend: Serious family cares have prevented me from making a few observations on the pamphlet of Mr. Gonzalez Ortega against President Juarez, and I would not now notice the production if the imperial papers were not discussing it.

I don’t think Mr. Gonzalez Ortega will he pleased with what the enemies of independence say about his protest and manifest, and I believe he will repent of it when he sees the consequences. He might have meant well, hut he has certainly done ill. He will suffer enough from the diatribes of those malicious periodicals.

I will proceed to give you some ideas that came into my mind when I read the pamphlet in which Ortega endeavors to draw obloquy upon the government, which he says “is located in one corner of the republic.” He said, “Juarez is in the republic, it is true, but exists in a small corner of the territory.”

What can be Ortega’s object to ask the people of New York, where he now is, their opinion on the subject? I cannot guess. Only to find out? We Mexicans abroad are not the country, and it seems almost like recognizing the intervention to remain here. What Mexicans are now the real representatives of the country? Surely not those under the foreigners and traitors, for they have no suffrage. But who can do this? Those who, without bread, arms, or ammunition, oppose intervention, suffer from hunger and want of clothes, and do all they can for independence only to see Mexico free, with no reward, and the gibbet threatening them in front.

These are the real representatives of the nation now, and Mr. Gonzalez Ortega ought to consult them, if he wants to know the opinion of republicans.

Let us consider what these patriots have done since the decrees of the 8th November.

General Diego Alvarez published the decrees in the south, and recognized the President as the true government. General Francisco de Leon, acting governor of Tamaulipas, submitted to General Carvajal, appointed governor by Juarez. General Escobedo, governor of New Leon and commander in Coahuila, sent word to General Carvajal that he was subject to his orders. General Alejandro Garcia, governor of Tabasco and chief of the eastern line, continued to acknowledge Juarez as President. The brave General Regules is appointed to command the centre by this same man Juarez. Sonora, Sinaloa, and Chihuahua recognize him. Thus you see all the brave men who fight are in favor of Juarez, and Continue to stand by the chief magistrate who has supported the republican flag, if it is in one corner of the Mexican territory.

But, if that is not sufficient to legalize the presidency of Juarez, if article 128 of the constitution is not enough, we have the full powers granted him by congress on the 27th October, 1862. To show you I am right, I will cite a grave fact, approved by the nation. By these extra powers, the 16th June, 1864, Juarez Called a session of congress, declaring that the clergy and federal employés could vote, and no certificate of residence would be required of any one, whether elected by a State or territory. Now, these orders are contrary to the constitution of 1857; yet the nation did not raise its voice against them, but elected representatives from Sinaloa, Sonora, Coahuila, New Leon, Chiapas, Oajaca, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Tabasco, and that part of the State of Vera Cruz not held by the enemy. Thus the republic supported the President in his reform of the constitution; then has he not the right to do what he pleases to save that constitution and the independence of the republic? I think so. And I also think General Gonzalez Ortega would have done better to keep silence, and thus fulfil a patriotic duty, and not provoke the Sociedad newspaper to say: “The bold Roman who exhibited the bloody body of Caesar to the people did no more injury to his assassins than Gonzalez Ortega does to legality by exposing its bleeding body in garments that are not spotless, owing to his acts.”

Yours, &c.,

PANTALEON TOVAR.

Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, Paso del Norte.

Further data.

Since this supplement went to press we have received the news that Colonel Naranjo and Commander Saenz refuse to join General Negrete in his protest against the government. Their answers to his note are too long to be inserted here. Negrete utters this falsehood: “The danger of the situation increases, because the government at Washington will not recognize Juarez. Relations are broken off, and will not be renewed till the new President fixes his place of residence.”

The circular is dated the 27th January, on the banks of the Rio Grande.

[Page 361]

Among other things, the colonel says in his answer: “The traitors say they are only pretending to adhere to the empire, and will soon show which side they are on.” “Where is your President? Just where you are; and yet he presents himself before the entire nation from New York? He is the personification of law and justice, while he condemns a man who is doing his duty at the head of the defenders of independence.”

The above letter is from Villaldama, the 6th of February, 1866. Commander Saenz says, among other things:

“I have already seen your letter, Mr. Negrete, and I think you ought to know us better than to address us in that manner.”

“You were the bitter enemy of Ortega in Chihuahua, threatening to murder him in some way, and now you exalt him as our only savior. I can hardly believe it, yet it is true. It was reserved for a Negrete, a Gonzalez Ortega, to appear in the darkest days of sorrow in their country, like unnatural sons who come to kill their dying mother and divide her inheritance between them.” “Indeed, I do not think you are the pilots to save the ship containing the precious treasure of our independence; you are inexperienced and have not the courage. This is what I think of you, when I hear you profane the sacred name of country and independence, and quoting the constitution to sustain you, interpreting it after your own fashion, of course. But when I examine your speech, I find the truth is wanting, and I become indignant.” “I must say to you, for the last time, what you see here written contains my opinion, and you will always find me consistent.” “All we want is to save our country, and we think we shall; if not, we fall in the attempt. Ready for every sacrifice, we defy the world, if the world dares molest us. If the Mexican nation sink, we will sink with it.” (Dated February 7, 1866.)—Supplement to No. 11 of the official paper of the government of the Mexican republic.

Such is the opinion of the only ones who have a right to give it, and they are those who march with arms in their hands.

P. S.—We have just received No 11 of the official paper from Paso del Norte, dated 8th March, 1866. It contains notes from Antonio Pedrin, governor of Lower California, and from Garcia Morales, military commander of Sonora, applauding Juarez for issuing the decrees of the 8th November.

No. 5.

General Gonzalez Ortega and his nine indorsers versus the Mexican nation and the constitutional President of its unanimous choice, with an appendix, containing accompanying documents.

A pamphlet in English, intended for circulation in the United States, and prominently put forward within a few days, has been issued by a Mexican general, Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, a pretender to the presidency of Mexico.

In Mexico, where, if anywhere, such an appeal is in place, scarcely a word in reply to it would be needed, for public opinion there, with a unanimity far greater even than that which re-elected Abraham Lincoln President of the United States, has already decided the question beyond recall. Negative proof of this, of itself conclusive, is afforded by the pamphlet itself. It contains, as appendix, what Ortega, in the title, calls “letters in ratification of his position.” He had seven months to collect these. They are spread over twenty-six pages.

Who are Ortega’s indorsers?—How many of these letters are from Mexican officials? Not one. How many are written from Mexico at all? Not one. How many are there in all? Nine—four written from Texas and five from New York Who are the writers? Two are ex-governors of States, two ex-brigadier generals, one ex-postmaster general, one ex-colonel; every one of them disaffected ex-officials, absent from their native country in her hour of danger and suffering. Three more make the list of Ortega’s indorsers—one an ex-editor and two others whom nobody knows.

Nine malcontent refugees! He omitted, on his muster-roll, one additional supporter, whose name should have been the tenth—Manuel Ruiz, formerly acting minister of justice, who, in November last, declared for Ortega, and in December went over to the French.— (House Ex. Doc. No. 73, 1866, part 2, page 40.)

The voice of the Mexican nation.—How, meanwhile, during these seven months, has the announcement of Juarez’s extension of term, necessitated by French intervention, been received? Jubilantly; by acclamation. The details would fill a volume. The governor of the State of Vera Cruz, Alejandro Garcia, second in command of the eastern division of the Mexican republic, in sending on (as early as February last) manifestoes from seventeen towns within his State, says: “The letters already received on this subject are too voluminous to be sent.” (House Ex. Doc., 1866, part 2, page 52.) The manifestoes referred to (pp. 54 [Page 362] to 63) exhibit in brief and simple phrase the enthusiasm of the people. There has been throughout the entire nation, whether as regards officials or municipal bodies or public men, no exception. Not a governor of a State, not a town or city under native rule, but has declared for the continuance in his present position of President Juarez. Nay, more, not a Mexican citizen resident in Mexico has, in public harangue or in printed communication, expressed disapprobation of the extension of Juarez’s term of office, or given in his adhesion to General Ortega. We might search in vain throughout modern history for a parallel example of national unanimity.

Proofs.—So far as proof of these statements can be supplied, without swelling this pamphlet beyond reasonable limits, it will be found in an appendix. Letters are there given from every governor, now acting as such, within the republic of Mexico, from distinguished officers now in the field, and from public men, all approving the action of Juarez in prolonging his presidency during the war. Several of the towns went further than this, adding an expression of their earnest desire that Juarez should be elected President for a second term, after the present war is over.

Mexican sentiment in California.—But it is not to the country over which Juarez’s jurisdiction extends that the confidence reposed in him by his countrymen is restricted. California attracts Mexicans in large numbers, and from that country also comes to us, through loyal associations and otherwise, a concurrent meed of approbation. In the congressional document already quoted (pp. 43 to 48) examples will be found. The patriotic Mexican clubs of San Francisco, of Sacramento, of Virginia City, and others, by addresses numerously signed, testify in the strongest terms their approval of Juarez’s course. Is there among these hundreds one voice for Ortega? No. Of his corporal’s guard of nine not one hails from the shores of the Pacific.

Here these remarks might terminate, for the question is a domestic one, as to which Mexicans are the sole arbiters. But it may interest some readers briefly to inquire whether the popular verdict is as just as it has been unanimous.

Constitutional argument.—The articles of the Mexican constitution upon which Ortega’s pretensions are based will be found in House Executive document, 1862, No. 100, at page 148, as follows:

Article 79. In temporary default of a President of the republic, and in the vacancy before the installation of the newly elected, the president of the supreme court of justice shall enter upon the exercise of the functions of President.

Article 80. If the default of President be absolute, a new election shall be proceeded with, according to the provisions of article 76, and the one so elected shall exercise his functions until the last day of November of the fourth year following his election.

Article 82. If, from whatever reason, the election of President shall not have been made and published by the first of December, upon which the change is to take place, or if the newly elected is not able to enter promptly upon the exercise of his functions, the term of the preceding President shall nevertheless cease, and the supreme executive power shall be deposited, ad interim, in the president of the supreme court of justice.

This is from the translation of the Mexican constitution officially communicated to the State Department. The concluding phrase of article 82, which contains the gist of the matter, reads in the original as follows:

“El supremo poder ejecutivo se depositará interinamente en el presidente de a suprema corte de justicia.”

The literal translation of the word “interinamente “is “provisionally,” “temporarily.” And the provision is, that the supreme executive power shall be deposited (or, as we express it, shall vest)provisionally in the president of the supreme court.

Originally, Mexico had, like the United States, a senate and a lower house, the vice-president, as with us, being president of the senate. When a change was made limiting the congress to a single chamber, the chief justice was selected as vice-president to fill any vacancy caused by death or other default of the President.

The whole context of the articles quoted shows that the arrangement which placed the chief justice in the presidential chair was to be strictly a temporary one. “In temporary default of a President,” (Art. 79,) the president of the supreme court is to take his place. Against his permanent occupation of the seat a jealous guard is set. In case of the President’s death the chief justice is not allowed, as under our Constitution the Vice-President is, to serve during the rest of the presidential term. “If the default of President be absolute,” (Art. 80,) a new election shall be held The policy is plain. Its spirit cannot be misunderstood. No one but the man actually voted for as President is, under any circumstances, permanently to occupy the presidential chair.

There was jealousy on another point. An ambitious President, hoping, perhaps, to hold office in perpetuity, might intrigue to prevent or postpone an election for his successor. In order to defeat any such intrigue, it was provided (Art. 82) that, when the term for which a President was elected had expired, the executive power was to vest in the chief justice [Page 363] The debates in the convention which adopted the Mexican constitution show that this was the spirit and intent of the provision.

Article 82, taken alone and according to its letter, undoubtedly gives the presidency temporarily to Ortega, as chief justice, the words being, “If, from whatever reason, the election of President shall not have been made and published by the first of December;” and the election, in point of fact, not having been made and published by that day. But taken in connection with the articles which precede it, and in view of the well-known intent of its framers, and, yet more especially, interpreted in the light of that policy which distinguishes the Mexican constitution from ours, namely, that he only shall permanently act as President who was elected to be President, not he who was elected as a temporary substitute, it would have been a direct violation of the spirit of the articles quoted, had the substitute in this case become the principal.

It will be observed that the words are not “If, from whatever cause, no election can be held.” The contingency anticipated evidently was that in which an election, though possible, was not held or was not published; a contingency much more likely to happen through intrigue of an unscrupulous incumbent, in an unsettled government like the Mexican, than among us. But, in the case we are considering, no man can doubt Juarez’s great desire that it had been possible to hold an election; and as little can we doubt that, if it had been possible, he, by an overwhelming vote, would have been a second time the people’s choice.

The contingency of a foreign invasion so formidable in its proportions as to overrun the country, and render impossible the holding of an election at all, was evidently not in the minds of the framers of the constitution. Not anticipating it, they did not provide for it. In providing for another case they used words which, if we accept the letter to the exclusion of the spirit, and construe the word interinamente to mean indefinitely, may be claimed to justify a proceeding which was clearly neither foreseen nor intended.

But, in addition to this the Mexican congress, in view of the military necessities which, when the French invasion began, they foresaw, granted extraordinary powers, suited to the emergency, to the President. By a law of December 11,1861, they decreed:

Art. 2. The Executive is hereby fully authorized and empowered to take such steps, and adopt such measures, as in his judgment may be necessary under the existing circumstances, without other restrictions than that of saving the independence and integrity of the national territory, the form of government established by the constitution, and the principles and laws of reform.”

Suppose the term of election of the governor of a State had expired during the war, with no possibility to elect his successor, is it not certain that Juarez had the power, under that law, to prolong his term of office? Is it notequally certain that he had the power, if he saw fit to exercise it, to prolong his own? Must he not have been certain that the people, almost unanimously, desired that prolongation? Has it not since been proved, beyond all denial, that they did? And ought he, from motives of false delicacy, and to satisfy a technical scruple, to have thwarted the national will at a moment when everything—even the salvation of the very constitution from which we have been quoting—depended upon popular unanimity, and popular confidence in the executive head? That would have been to reverse what we are told of the Sabbath, and to say, “Mexicans were made for the constitution, not the constitution for Mexicans.”

“The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” Never was there a more complete exemplification of the text than in the present case. Blindly to follow the letter of the law, under circumstances in which it was clearly never meant to apply, and thus to violate its spirit, would have been to prefer technicality to vitality, and, in all human probability, to have sacrificed the life of the nation thereby.

Is it strange that the Mexican people, listening to common sense, preferred the substance to the shadow and ratified Juarez’s decision?

Ortega resides in New York —But the people of Mexico may have had additional cause, of a personal character, for their decision.

On the 28th of December, 1864, General Ortega made an application to the Mexican government, through the minister of foreign relations. He does not give the text of that application in his pamphlet; but we find it in the congressional document already quoted, (No. 73,) page 30. He applied for “license to repair to the interior of the republic, or elsewhere within Mexican coasts, to continue to defend with arms the independence of Mexico.” And he added: “As the interior States are occupied by the invaders, I may have to pass some sea or foreign territory to realize my desires, and I hope you will inform the citizen President of this”

Two days afterwards, to wit, under date December 30, 1864, his request was acceded to, leave being granted him to “proceed either directly or by traversing the sea, or through some foreign-country, to points of the Mexican republic not occupied by the enemy, to continue [Page 364] to defend the national independence,” &c., but not a word about going to a foreign country, there to remain.

Yet the said General Gonzales Ortega, leaving Mexico in February, 1865, and passing by way of Santa Fé to New York, instead of proceeding to any part of Mexico, there to fight for her independence, has absented himself even to the present time; throughout these darkest days of his country’s history.

Which of the two men were the people of Mexico more likely to desire as their standard-bearer—the patriot who has remained faithfully at his post and endured, even to this hour, the burden and heat of the day, or the man who, under cover of a license to proceed through some foreign country to points of the Mexican republic, there to defend her independence, went direct to New York, and has since spent his time chiefly in that city, leaving his country to her fate?

But these are trifles. The fact is, indeed, that the Mexican people have no longer any confidence in Ortega; but even if that had been otherwise, the national decision would have been the same—in favor of their long-tried leader, Benito Juarez, and of the spirit of their federal constitution

Animus and object of Ortega’s pamphlet.—This appeal, by a Mexican general, to a foreign people, against the unanimous verdict of his own countrymen, is a scheme fraught with unmixed mischief, and not even redeemed, as many unprincipled schemes are, by the poor excuse of possible success in attaining its ostensible object. Mrs. Lavinia Janetta Horton Ryves, a recent claimant for royal rights in the English law courts, was as likely to dethrone Queen Victoria as General Ortega is to displace President Juarez. No sane man, even slightly conversant with the facts, for a moment imagines that he can. That is not the object of Ortega’s pamphlet. If it had been, that document would have been published in Spanish and in Mexico, not in English, to circulate among us, who have no voice in the matter. Its object is, injury, by base indirection, to a noble cause. Its object is, to create doubts throughout this country, in the minds of the uninformed, as to the stability of executive authority in Mexico, for what ulterior purpose we need not inquire.

Suffice it that the whole affair is the flimsiest pretext; an effort, transparent as glass, to get up the idea that there is a contest for the Mexican presidency. A contest! If there be, it is one in which there is the Mexican nation, including all its officials, civil and military, duly represented near our government by its accredited minister, on the one side, and, on the other, nine absentees, without present position or influence, led by a Mexican general, brave, very likely, and who, in former days, may have done good service in the field, as Benedict Arnold did before he turned traitor to his country.

APPENDIX.

The following are letters, or extracts from letters, variously addressed, from every governor of a State in the republic of Mexico, now acting as such. It will be seen that every one approves of Juarez’s course:

From General Diaz, governor and military commandant of the State of Oaxaca and commander of the eastern division, to the Mexican minister.

Tlapa, May 9, 1866.

* * * I have caused the publication here of the late decrees of the government.

The first, with reference to the extension of the constitutional period of the President, has been received with great satisfaction. It is unnecessary for me to speak of my own views, for they are always manifested in my conduct, which consists in entire obedience, or in entire withdrawal from official position, when my convictions do not permit my concurrence in the policy pursued.

In the present case, the step taken by the President is, in my judgment, not only opportune, but the only course that is consistent with the salvation of our cause.

The decree which orders the submission to trial of General Ortega and other officers similarly liable is, in my judgment, well founded in the ordinances and practice of war

My opinion with reference to the strict maintenance of the ordinances is well known; they should always be rigorously applied.

I believe, therefore, that the government has only done what was its duty in this matter.

I remain your attentive friend and servant,

PORFIRIO DIAZ.

Señor Don Matias Romero, Washington.

From General Garcia, governor of Vera Cruz and second in command of the eastern division, to President Juarez.

Tlacotalpam, February 26, 1866.

Very Dear Sir and much Respected Friend: * * * * I informed you in my letter of the 14th instant that on the 1st, before I received your official decree and other documents prolonging your term, I had sent out a circular to all the authorities within the lines to ascertain the will of the people.

I have received assurances from every quarter acknowledging your right to continue in the presidency of the republic till another constitutional election can be held.

I am now receiving the manifestoes and am publishing them in the official bulletin, of which I send you copies. I also send some to Mr. Romero, for any good use he may make of them in the United States, and I will continue to do so by every opportunity. When complete, I will despatch them to the department of government for due consideration.

I repeat to you what I said in my last; that is though I cannot send you the facts now, you may rest assured that all the eastern line will vote in the same way.

Nothing new has occurred since my letter of the 14th.

I think General Diaz is in Tlajiaco, though I am not sure of it, for, in spite of all my efforts, I have not been able to communicate with him.

In the hope that you will continue to favor me with your welcome letters, I remain your friend and servant,

ALEJANDRO GARCIA.

Señor Don Benito Juarez, President of the Mexican Republic.

The next letter is from the victor in the late encounter on the Rio Grande, in which a rich train, worth from one to two million of dollars, was captured.

From General Escobedo, governor of the State of New Leon and commander-in-chief of the forces on the Rio Grande, to the Mexican minister.

Rio Blanco, April 26, 1866.

* * * * We are all here perfectly united and decided upon the presidential question, and the recent decrees have been received without question whatever, all being disposed to continue obeying and respecting the government of President Juarez.

The same is the case in the interior, and the disposition is particularly manifested by all the liberal papers, which with so much valor and constancy have continued defending the national cause, even in many cases in places occupied by the forces of the so-called empire. All of our news from the interior is satisfactory. On all sides the public spirit is rising, and the adhesions to the farcical empire changing to the reverse.

What we require is arms, and particularly sabres for our cavalry. It is impossible that our soldiers, armed only with an old musket, or a rifle, can compete with the French cavalry, or the Austrian, or even the traitors, who are all well mounted, armed and equipped. Nevertheless, we do not avoid the combat, and many times have measured arms with them with good success.

I am your attentive and obedient servant,

MARIANO ESCOBEDO.

Señor Don Matias Romero, Washington, D C.

From the governor and military commandant of the State of Coahuila,

Office of the Governor and Military Commandant of the State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, Rosas, December 8, 1865.

As this government and command has received the supreme decree of the 8th of November last, prolonging the functions of the citizen President of the republic for the specified time, during the present state of the war, and those of the powers of the person who may be president of the court of justice, for the time necessary to the object of its prolongation, and sees that it is in conformity with the spirit of the constitution, and to the interests of the republic, agreeable to the national will, and particularly to this State, it therefore decrees that it be fulfilled, and for that purpose has published it this day to the authorities [Page 366] and forces under its command, and will endeavor to give it the greatest publicity in the State.

I have the honor to communicate this to you, for your information and that of the chief magistrate of the nation.

Independence and liberty!

A. S. VIEZCA.

Eduardo Musquiz, Acting Secretary.

The Citizen Minister of Relations and Government, Chihuahua.

From the governor and military commander of the State of Sinaloa.

Government and Military Department of State of Sinaloa, Concordia, December 24, 1866.

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt from your department of the circulars of the 28th of October and 8th of November, and of the two decrees issued on that last date.

These supreme resolutions shall be rigidly enforced by this State under my command, since in it is involved nothing less than the firm establishment of the supreme authority of the nation, and likewise, as is well understood, the responsibility incurred by those soldiers of the republic who have abandoned the cause in its hour of need, and gone abroad to foreign lands

Orders have been issued to circulate these welcome resolutions through all the districts, and to have them promulgated in general orders to the united brigades of Sinaloa and Jalisco. I communicate these measures to you, in order that through your means they may come to the knowledge of the supreme magistrate of the nation.

Independence and liberty!

DOMINGO RUBI.

F. Sepulveda, Secretary.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chihuahua.

From the governor and military commander of the State of Sonora.

I have received with positive satisfaction the two decrees issued by the President under date of the 8th of November last, and the circular from your department with which you were pleased to accompany them, the first of them relative to the prolongation of the term of the supreme magistrate of the nation, as long as the condition of the foreign war in which we are involved does not permit a new constitutional election to be had, and the second relative to the prolongation of the term of the supreme magistrate of the nation, and the mode of supplying his place, if in the mean time he should happen to fail.

The anomalous circumstances in which the republic unfortunately finds itself, the deficiency or silence of the general constitution on a point of such vital interest to the nation, the spirit of articles 78, 79, 80, and 82 of the same fundamental code, and, finally, the collection of powers bestowed on the executive by the legislative body of the Mexican union, under date of the 11th of December, 1861, afford superabundant ground and justification for the first of the above-mentioned supreme resolutions, in which the enemies of our country can never see anything else than the unflinching zeal of the President for the maintenance of legitimate authority, the most mature examination in his measures, and, above all, his singular abegnation in facing a situation so stormy as the present one, without any other recompense than the satisfaction always caused by the fulfilment of duty, however onerous it may be.

Independence and liberty! Camp in La Noria, February 1, 1866.

J. GARCIA MORALES.

D. Elias, Acting Secretary.

The Minister of Foreign Relations and Government. Paso del Norte.

From Major General J. M. J. Carvajal, governor of the State of Tamaulipas.

Santa Rosalia, June 15, 1866.

My Dear Sir: I have now reached the territory of Tamaulipas, and find the people here full of good feeling, and resolved not only to continue their sacrifices in defence of the national cause, but convinced of the necessity of an absolute obedience to the legitimate [Page 367] authorities, and determined to frown down all such ambitious plans as those of Ortega, which only serve to divide us and to aid the partisans of the intervention.

I therefore find that all are willing to obey me as governor and military commandant of this State by virtue of the appointment of President Juarez, who is recognized as the lawful and legitimate President of the republic, without there being in all the State of Tamaulipas — as there scarcely is in all the republic—a single person who does not approve the decree extending the term of office of the President until a new election can take place.

* * * * * * * *

I am, very truly, your friend and servant,

JOSÉ M. J. CARVAJAL.

Señor Don Matias Romero, Washington.

From Major General de Regules, governor of the State of Michoacan and commander-in-chief of the central army.

Uruapan, May 7, 1866.

Dear Sir: I have received the two decrees issued by the department of foreign relations and of government on the 8th of November of last year; the one extending the term of the presidency of the republic, which you so worthily occupy, until the circumstances of the country shall permit a new appeal to the popular suffrage; and the other declaring the responsibility which has been incurred by General Ortega, in residing for many months in a foreign country without the authorization for that purpose of the department of war. Both decrees have been well received by the forces under my command, and according to the news I am daily receiving, by all the inhabitants of Michoacan who take part in the defence of our country.

All comprehend, what is really the truth--that is to say, that you are the one who for a thousand reasons should continue at the head of the nation during this terrible crisis, during which what is most necessary is, that he who occupies the high position in which you are placed should be able to count, as you can count, upon the entire confidence of the people, and which confidence it is felt cannot be so fully reposed in any other person.

On the other hand, it cannot be doubted that the powers are ample under which you have taken these steps, and that they are in no manner opposed to the fundamental law, for the constitution has no provision for the case when it should be entirely impossible for an election to be held, as now, by reason of the foreign invasion.

With reference to General Ortega, the declaration as to his responsibility is only too well deserved, in having abandoned, as he has, in a manner so contrary to his antecedents, the defence of his country at a time when it most required the services of all good patriots, and especially of all having any experience in the career of arms.

* * * * * * * *

I am your obedient servant,

NICOLAS DE REGULES.

President Don Benito Juarez.

From Colonel Don Gregoria Mendez, governor and military commander of the State of Tabasco, to President Juarez

San Juan Bautista, February 2, 1866.

Most Distinguished and Respected Sir: I have before me your two very acceptable favors of the 27th of October and 9th of November last.

* * * * * * * *

Your determination in regard to General Diaz, who is now fighting in Oaxaca, shall be duly respected by me and my subalterns. That general is truly worthy of his former position by his effectiveness, his valor, his honesty, and his energy, particularly as his disappearance depended upon causes over which he bad no control.

I shall take great pleasure in having the decrees sent me by Mr. Romero published tomorrow; they have my entire approval and that of the State. No person more worthy, or with greater hopes of the nation, could have been trusted with the supreme command than yourself, and at a time when a change might have caused a want of confidence, to say the least. The trial of Mr. Ortega is an act that gives power to the government from its principle of morality, as it impresses upon our society and its great men the necessity of attending to their duties, and teaches them the great impropriety of derelictions which they often commit, thinking to be shielded by the elevation of their positions.

* * * * * * * *

I conclude with an affectionate greeting, wishing you peace and prosperity, and subscribing myself your obedient servant, &c., &c.,

G. MENDEZ.

The President of the Republic Don Benito Juarez, Chihuahua.

Extract of a letter from the governor of Chiapas to the Mexican consul in San Francisco.

Consulate of Mexico, San Francisco, April 13, 1866.

Under date of the 15th of February last, the governor of the State of Chiapas, Don J. Pantaleoa Dominguez, writes to me as follows:

“Informed of the contents of your favor of the 15th December last, and of the decrees issued by the supreme government of the republic relative to the prorogation of the functions of the President of the republic, and to the responsibility incurred by the citizen General Jesus G. Ortega, I have to-day ordered the publication and circulation of the said decrees in the State under my command, and that they shall be brought to the knowledge of the governors of the States of Tabasco and Vera Cruz, to whom also I have transcribed your said letter and sent a copy of the letter that you addressed to the first magistrate of the nation.”

I have the honor to transcribe the same to you, that you may be pleased to bring the same to the knowledge of the chief magistrate of the republic.

I renew to you the assurances of my esteem and consideration.

JOSÉ A. GODOY.

The Citizen Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, Minister of Foreign Relations and of Government, Paso del Norte.

From General Diego Alvarez, governor of the State of Guerrero.

La Providencia, January 21, 1866.

* * * I have been well pleased to see the two decrees issued by the department of foreign relations and of government on the 8th of November last; the one extending the term of the presidency which you worthily occupy until it shall be possible to again consult the national will by means of an election, and the other determining that General Gonzalez Ortega shall be submitted to trial.

Both measures are well justified by the reasons upon which they are based, and which are fully explained in the circular of Mr. Lerdo which accompanies them. So far I do not believe there has been a single good Mexican in this State who has expressed any other opinion than in favor of these decrees, which the critical circumstances of the republic have imperiously required.

* * * * * * * *

DIEGO ALVAREZ.

President Don Benito Juarez.

From the political chief of the Territory of Lower California to the Mexican consul in San Francisco

Mexican Consulate in San Francisco, San Francisco, January 24, 1866.

Citizen Antonio Pedrin, political chief of the Territory of Lower California, writes to me from San José, under date of the 16th of the present month, as follows:

“With your acceptable communication dated the 27th of September last I have received the copies of the official journal which you had the goodness to enclose to me, and in which were published the decrees issued by the President of the republic through the medium of the department of foreign affairs and government; the one relative to the prolongation of the term of the President, and the other to the responsibilities of General Jesus G. Ortega.

“In acknowledging this communication, I confess with pleasure that in my opinion the President could not have adopted any measure more acceptable, because, though it may affect certain partialities interested in a change of administration, yet there is nothing more certain than that no one of our public men could fill the immense void that would be left by the absence from power of the father of the Mexican republic. In him we know that we ever find united faith, integrity, and constancy, fully supported by the national sentiment; without him, God alone knows what would become of Mexico under present circumstances.”

And I have the honor to transmit this to you, in order that you may be pleased to communicate it to the President for his information.

I renew to you the assurance of my distinguished consideration and esteem.

JOSÉ A. GODOY.

Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Government, Paso del Norte.

From Major General Ramon Corona, commanding in Sinaloa and Jalisco.

Headquarters of the Republican Army, United Brigades of Sinaloa and Jalisco, Concordia, December 24, 1865.

The circulars and supreme decrees issued from your department on the 28th of October and the 8th of November have been received by me.

The common sense of the nation will see in these resolutions the confirmation of the supreme authority of the nation, and the assurance that the faithful defenders of the national independence are not confounded with those who, though bearing the name of the soldiers of the republic, abandon its banner in the hour of trial, and go abroad into foreign lands.

These supreme resolutions will be made known in general orders to the regiments composing the united brigades of Sinaloa and Jalisco.

I communicate this information to you, in order that by your means it may be brought to the knowledge of the supreme magistrate of the nation.

Independence and liberty!

RAMON CORONA.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Government, Chihuahua.

From Major General Juan Alvarez, Commander-in-chief of the southern military division.

La Providencia, January 20, 1866.

Dear Sir and Friend: * * * * *

The two decrees issued by you on the 8th of November last appear to me to be both just and necessary. The extension of your presidential term until the circumstances of the country, now invaded by a foreign enemy, shall permit a new election, is the only solution of the difficulties that is presented, and it is a measure which is, without doubt, within the ample faculties which have been given to you by the national representatives; nor can it be said that it is opposed to the constitution, which contemplates at least the possibility of an election.

On the other hand, if you had delivered the place to the vice-president, the latter, without any legal instalment, so long as an election cannot take place, as it cannot for a long time, would have to continue indefinitely occupying the presidency, when the spirit of the constitution is that he shall only take charge of that office temporarily and in a provisional manner. These reasons, which are well explained in the circular of MR Lerdo, and the well-merited confidence which you enjoy, have caused this decree, which I have myself long desired to see issued, to be very well received in this State.

With reference to the responsibility incurred by Señor Gonzalez Ortega, I have nothing to add to the reasons set forth by the government in declaring the same. In my judgment they are conclusive, and however much I may lament the errors of a Mexican who has, heretofore done good service for his country, the decree appears to me to be just.

* * * * * * * *

JUAN ALVAREZ.

President Don Benito Juarez.

Many letters, from General Ortega’s former friends, were addressed to him, condemning his course and vindicating that of President Juarez. Of course, General Ortega suppressed them. We select two as specimens, both from members of the last Mexican congress. Señor Zarco was also, in 1861, Mexican minister of foreign affairs:

[Extracts.]

From Señor Zarco to Señor Ortega.

New York, February 24, 1866.

My very Esteemed Friend: I have received to-day a communication from you, dated at San Antonio, Texas, the 3d of the present month, in which you ask me what course I have adopted in reference to the destruction of the legal order of things, and what I have done to manifest my approval or disapprobation, as the case may be. of the decrees of the 8th of November last, in which Señor Juarez declared that he would continue in the office of President of the Mexican republic. You base your interrogatory on the right which the [Page 370] nation has at all times to know what the course is of its public men, and on the obligation which you think you have to collect the proper information.

As you directed your interrogatory to me in the belief that I was a deputy to the general congress, I might limit my answer to informing you that I hold no such position, nor in fact any other public position whatever, since the term expired, in 1864, for which I was elected representative by the districts of various States. I am, therefore, no more than a Mexican who, having held the position with which the people honored me, has preferred to emigrate to a foreign country rather than submit to the French intervention; which resolution I took when my public character ceased, and after persuading myself that I had no opportunity to serve the national cause in any manner.

But in courtesy to you, in consideration of our old relations of friendship, and because I never made any mystery of my opinions, I believe it to be my duty to express my ideas more at length in this letter, which is no more than that of a simple citizen.

Even though I had a public character, and I were performing its functions in our country, I could not recognize in you or in any man, no matter how high might be his authority, the right to make me the interrogatory which you have addressed to me; because, if public men should give an account to the nation of their actions, there is a legal method established for the purpose from which no one should depart.

* * * * * * * *

As to approving or disapproving here of the acts of the government of Mexico, the representative of our nationality, I should deem myself to be wanting in my duty if I raised controversies that only served to give strength to the foreign usurpers. My only desire is the independence of our country; and in presence of this sacred object, all else appears to me pitiful and contemptible.

Here I should only be employed in crying out, as long as ever I could, that the intervention and monarchy are the most atrocious injustice, and the most scandalous iniquity; and that the people of Mexico, oppressed, conquered, unfortunate, never recognizes a foreign yoke, but struggles to break it and restore its republican institutions. Such I believe to be the duty of Mexicans externally, without thinking of domestic dissensions.

The decree by which Señor Juarez prolongs his presidential term appears to me to be in conformity with the faculties conferred upon him by the congress, in order to meet the circumstances of the occasion, since the issuing of such a decree is not enumerated in the restrictions imposed upon him. He can do everything, except what these restrictions prohibit; so I understand the spirit which actuated the congress, and with this understanding, at least, I proceeded to draw up the resolutions which have become a law, and to support them in debate, as a member of the committee on relations.

As a simple citizen, therefore, I recognize Senor Juarez as the legitimate President of the Mexican republic, and I desire the greatest possible prestige and support for his government, whose existence, in the opinions of the world, is identified with our nationality.

* * * * * * * *

I contemplate the affairs of our country with serenity, without despairing of its future. I have no aspiration but to see Mexico free and independent. My opinion is the more impartial, as having nothing either to fear or hope from yourself or from Señor Juarez. I entertain the conviction that, as soon as our independence is once established, we who have been public men should yield our places to newer and more vigorous men, inasmuch as civil strifes rapidly waste and superannuate those who take part in them.

I am, as ever, your affectionate friend and servant,

FRANCISCO ZARCO.

Señor D. JESUS Gonzalez Ortega.

From Señor Robert to Señor Gonzalez Ortega

New York, February 27, 1866.

Dear Sir: With the documents accompanying it, I have received a circular from you, dated at San Antonio de Bejar, Texas, the 3d of the present month, in which you ask me what course I have pursued as a deputy in reference to the decree of the 8th of November last, issued at El Paso by the constitutional government, prolonging the presidential term of Señor Juarez until the circumstances of the war permit a suitable election to be held. Believing that the constitutional government has acted within the scope of the powers which, conformably to the constitution, the last congress conferred upon it, and to which congress I had the honor to belong, it does not seem to me, therefore, that the aforesaid action should be called into question, which, under present circumstances, as you yourself have indicated in your manifesto, would be unpatriotic.

[Page 371]

I have made the foregoing declaration to you, not because I thought you had any right to inquire as to my conduct, but because my opinions, which are founded on the law, are public, and my consideration for yourself induces me to comply with your request.

I remain, &c., &c.,

CIPRIANO ROBEBT.

Señor Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, Present.

Similar documents might be multiplied indefinitely; but no addition is needed to what is already superabundant proof.

No. 6.

[From the official paper of the constitutional government of the Mexican republic, Paso del Norte, June 7, 1886.]

Corrections in General Ortega’s publications.

General Ortega published a pamphlet in New York containing all the documents he could find to support him for the presidency, and opposing the decrees of the 8th of November prolonging the presidential duties till war permits a new election.

He begins by saying all those who held office when the war commenced hold it now by this decree; and he sent a circular to many ex-governors and congressmen living abroad, whose offices expired in 1864.

His pamphlet contains the only favorable answers he could get. They were from Epitacio Huerta, José Patoni, Guillermo Prieto, Fernando Pousel, Manuel Quezada, and Joaquin Villalobos. We did not know the last was a public character. The pamphlet also contains a kind of resolution, drawn up in New York, declaring that Ortega ought to be President of the Mexican republic, and it is signed by Juan Tongo, J. Rivera, and Priest Juan N. Orestes, all of them unknown.

He did not print all the answers he received against his wishes, because they were private, as he says, when all the others were just as private. However, some Mexicans residing in New York took the trouble to publish the others, which were from Juan J. Baz, Leandro Cuevas, Felipe Berriozabal, Francisco Zarco, Cipriano Robert, and Pantaleon Tovar, together with some letters from Alejandro Garcia, general-in-chief of the eastern line, and Gregorio Mendez, governor of Tobasco, favoring the decrees of the 8th of November. We thus give some idea of the pamphlet, and will now proceed to the corrections of it.

Ortega published a letter supposed to be addressed to President Juarez by General Patoni, on the 15th of December, from Presidio del Norte. Patoni has just resigned a command he had held in Chihuahua up to the 9th of December, when the government moved to Paso del Norte, and he went to Presidio del Norte. That letter, says Patoni, cannot recognize the President’s decree, because he thought it ought to have been proclaimed in Chihuahua. We are authorized to say that the President never received the letter; but a letter from Patoni at Presidio was received. It was dated the 25th of December, beofre he left for San Antonio, and spoke of government affairs without alluding to the decree. Some months before it was issued, while Patoni was in Chihuahua, he advised the President to prolong his term of office when it should expire.

We have the diary of a person who travelled with him to Presidio. It is as follows:

“Saturday, December 9, 1865, left Chihuahua at half past four p. m.; reached Aldama at eight, and stopped for the night. Sunday, 10th, set out at half past four with General Patoni and Guillermo Prieto; stopped that night at Coyote, where we arrived at half past five p. m. Monday, 11th, started at nine a. m., and got to Hormigas by two p. m. Tuesday, 12th, started at half past five a. m., and slept at Coyame. Wednesday, 13th, left at noon, and got to Coyamo by five p. m. Thursday, 14th, left at one p. m., and got to Cuchillo Parado by nine p. m. Prieto’s carriage upset, and the wheel of Patoni’s came off. Friday, 15th, and Saturday, 16th, stopped to have the carriages repaired. Sunday, 17th, we left Cuchillo Parado at half past nine, and slept at Arroyo del Mimbre. Monday, 18th, set out at seven a. m.; arrived at Mula by one p. m. Tuesday, 19th, set out at half past nine a. m., and arrived at Ojinaga (Presidio del Norte) at half past three p. m.”

This diary can be proved by persons along the road and at Presidio. Patoni’s letter purports to have been written on the 15th of December at Presidio, four days before reaching that place. As to the style of the letter, it is much like the others in Ortega’s pamphlet Those who are acquainted with that individual may guess what we mean. We doubt if Patoni had anything to do with the letter. There is another letter in Onega’s book, supposed to have been written from New York to the President on the 7th of October, advising against the prolongation of the presidential term. He did not get the letter; but he did get one, some months before, from Villalobos, who was in the United States trying to negotiate a loan. In that he said Maximilian had banished him, and robbed him of $10,000, and he requested the government to repay it. He was told it was impossible; the government could not be [Page 372] responsible for his losses, and if he succeeded in the loan he ought to devote the whole of it to support the war against intervention. Ortega publishes a note from Mr. Huerta, in New York, the 25th of February, in which he gives himself the title of general of division. After the decree of 8th of November the President promoted some officers to the rank of major generals, and Mr. Huerta was among them; yet, after this, he opposed the decree, and called it revolutionary, and compared it to Comonfort’s proclamation. He said as soon as Comonfort turned he denied him, and he does the same with Juarez. After sending him the commission the government ordered him to come home to fight against the enemy. He made some excuses at first, and then sided with Ortega.

As to Prieto, when he was with the government, before the decree was published, he reposed the decree, because he did not think it was constitutional; but he could not go for Ortega, on account of his acts in 1861, and he would consider it the greatest calamity if Ortega were President. Prieto repeated this everywhere, publicly and privately. The government knew Prieto, and knows him now. He was not molested then, because he seemed to be sincere in his opinion, but was disposed to no harm. Yet, on the 8th of December, the day before leaving Chihuahua, Prieto called to see the President, and asked for promotion; promised to support him in the papers, and offered to be his biographer and historian. The President declined his offers, and said he did not want any honest opinion sacrificed.

We hope these corrections will be sufficient, for limited space prevents further expatiation.

No. 7.

[From the official paper of the constitutional government of the Mexican republic, Chihuahua, September 14, 1866.]

Letters of Gonzalez Ortega, Santa Anna, and Prieto.

We produce below some letters of these gentlemen, who are working for their private interests against the republic. Santa Anna’s letter to Priest Ordonez may be found in the Diario del Imperio, with two from Prieto to his friends.

Ortega’s letter, and Prieto’s to Negrete, have been sent to the government. We make no comments on these letters, because they need none. Strange means these gentlemen make use of to help themselves! Such chiefs as Tapia will never aid them. It is absurd to blame a minister because he acts with the President; and it is equally as ridiculous to think the government would recall Santa Anna. His allies are those interested individuals who would destroy the republic for their benefit. Calumny is vain when so patent and coming from persons so notorious:

New York, April 29, 1866.

Respected Friend and Companion: I have received yours of the 9th, with contents. I hope you have received mine with the circular. It is impossible to tell you in a letter all I have done, what I intend to do, and what will be done in many States of the republic. The loyal cause is saved. Chihuahua has been taken by Terrazas; but Don Benito says he will not leave El Paso yet. What does that mean?

I presume you have seen the papers with the diplomatic correspondence. The empire is dead, but there remain important questions to settle. You must operate in Matamoras; this is the propitious time. Notice the effect of the withdrawal of the French troops, and the prohibition to Austria by the United States to send any more to help Maximilian. My address is 143 East Eighth street, New York city. If absent, the letters will be forwarded to me. Respects to the boys and your family. Your friend,

JESUS G. ORTEGA.

General Miguel Negrete, Brownsville.

[Untitled]

San Antonio, Texas, May 6,1868.

Very Good Friend: I enclose a letter to our friend Aureliano Rivera, Read it; I think you will find it excellent. I anxiously expect your letters. General Ortega sends much regard to you and Tapia, and says you will hear from him soon, and wishes you both to join him in the country’s cause. He staid in New York to hear from California and to meet a person from the city of Mexico on very important business. He will soon be ready, and I congratulate you and the country upon the value of his services.

I have already told you of the capture of Chihuahua by the liberals. I hear Lerdo has resigned his position and has joined the Santa Anna party. They write me this from New York, and say the news has had a serious effect on the Juarez party there. I don’t believe it, for you know Juarez will make every sacrifice to keep Lerdo with him.

Respects to Margarita and Miguelito, and all other friends, including yourself.

Yours, &c.,

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

General Miguel Negrete.

[Untitled]

San Antonio de Bexar, May 11,1866.

Dear Friend: Ortega will be here in a few days with Huerta, Ochoa, and other friends, to act immediately with you and Tapia. He ought to have been here long ago, to save bloodshed and direct operations properly. Patoni informs me that Ortega will leave New York about the end of this month. He has been detained there on important business.

Show this to Tapia and Rivera on the first opportunity.

Your friend and servant,

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

General Miguel Negrete.

[Untitled]

San Antonio de Bexar, May 11,1866.

General Ortega being personally acquainted with you, and knowing your elevated sentiments, charges me to write you in order that you may represent him in the city of Mexico.

The general, conjointly with Messrs. Huerta, Negrete, Patoni, Berriozabal, and other patriots, will appear in the republic with all the means necessary to give due activity to our operations, as well as in order that our principles may have a clear and legal representation there.

After the coup d’état I thought to continue in the most close retirement, but the alliance of Santa Anna with Juarez has compelled me to alter that design, and brought me in contact with Mr. Ortega. I believe that the object of the latter gentleman is to keep up the fight without entering into questions relating to right of command, and by no means take up arms against those of our friends who are engaged in the same struggle, even though they do invoke the name of Juarez. Hence you can represent Mr. Ortega consistently with your refined patriotic sentiments. You can communicate with Mr. Ortega either directly, without further formalities, or through me.

As the American force which is at our service has not yet been able to provide itself with what it needs, Mr. Ortega has been forced to delay until now; but I have faith in his making up for lost time. Commence, then, your labors at once. Write according to what Mr. N——— tells you. I send him also a communication now. Inquire of him as to the way of writing to me.

Ever yours,

GUILLERMO PRIETO

Señor Don Juan Mateos, Mexico.

[Untitled]

San Antonio de Bejar, June 4, 1866.

Dear Friend: I have been constantly writing to you, without having received as yet a single reply. I am ill with dropsy; and, instead of relief from the quarter whence I should expect it, I have to complain that my trouble is increased by your silence. Any misunderstanding with you can have but sad consequences for our cause, and will raise up difficulties hereafter; but it depends upon your good will to avert such a result.

From what I see in the public prints, and ascertain by sounding public opinion, as well as from the faint echoes which reach my ears from all sides, I am forced to conclude that you [here the original Spanish shows that the writer is addressing more than one party.—Ed. Herald] are not satisfied with justifications of Juarez in his attempt at usurpation, but you even represent that act as one of heroism—as one of those noble sacrifices which great men make when risking their popularity and even renown for the salvation of their country. You compare Juarez to Quintus Curtius, [Marcus Curtius, no doubt, is meant.—Ed. Herald,] rushing into the abyss to save Rome. You look upon the question at issue entirely in a personal light; you speak of the glorious tradition followed out by Juarez, and compare it with what you style the discomfitures and puerilities of Ortega. But the point of difficulty does not lie there; it consists in the substitution of arbitrary power for law: in the dethronement of right to make way for usurpation. Ever since Juarez has cast aside legality as the rule of his public actions, he has been, as it were, halting in his movements: he holds on to the interests of his accomplices with more tenacity than he adheres to the real welfare of his country. He is forced to flatter those around him, and he can. in consequence, give but little thought to the wants of our people.

But you should have taken warning when Santa Anna presented himself on the scene as the ally of Juarez. Santa Anna wished to have the empire: he pronounced in favor of it. In infamy and treason he has outrivalled———; but Saligny, as well as the head of the empire, found him too black with dishonor to have aught to do with him. Do you know what that bartered conscience, that foul wreck, is steering after? His own profit in some diplomatic speculation. And, indeed, ———, led somehow astray, has been used to bring Juarez and Santa Anna together. Well, the latter is to he made the instrument, through this connection, for satisfying the wishes of France and of the traitors who sold our country.

We had suspected some such mean farce, and what occurred on the removal of the seat of [Page 374] government to Chihuahua showed that our foresight was correct. Men who were imperialists but the day before, gave banquets to Juarez; the only absentees from such festivities, the only parties who were not received at them, were such as, like ourselves, had faithfully followed our national banner from the frontiers under his lead. Were we to accept Juarez’s usurpation, cowardly approve the dark and perfidona policy of Lerdo, and make common cause with those who pursue Gonzalez Ortega with invectives and injury, we should be violating law and trampling upon the interest of our country. Such a course could only pave the way for numberless evils, and compromise the future weal of our country to a most deplorable extent.

In New York we have no representatives other than bureaucratic ones. This is the result of Romero’s sad policy. I understand well your reasons for staving off discussion at a time when our national troubles are unabated; but you should labor to form opinion among your friends, to prepare the means that should serve in the defence of a cause that is just, and to gather the materials that will insure happiness to our country after the triumph of the principles of social progress. I trust that you will gather your friends together, and that you will write to your acquaintances abroad on this subject. Answer me.

Your devoted friend,

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

P. S.—Write me under any name you please, but take care to mark one of the corners of the envelope thus: B. 167.

Señor Don Juan Mateos, Mexico.

No. 8.

[From the official paper of the constitutional government of the Mexican republic, Chihuahua, September 22, 1866.]

Prieto’s letters.

We give another of his letters found in the Diario del Imperio of the 7th of August last.

We make no comments; we only republish it to show how discord is tried to be produced in the national cause.

His abuse of the President will not be noticed. He has a private grudge against Tejada. Speaking of Tapia, we said in our last number that Prieto called all he pleased his friends without consulting them. To prove this we insert a letter from Berriozabal, published in the New York Herald, with a proclamation by General Vega, in California. We insert Ignacio Pena Barragan’s safe conduct to quit the city of Mexico, together with part of a letter from Monterey concerning Prieto:

San Antonio, May 6, 1866.

My Dear Fellow: It seems impossible to get a letter from you, though I begged you to write to me. Are you so frightened by Juarez’s ambition you cannot write? They say his decrees of the 8th November have been well received, and I believe it; nothing surprises me now.

You decide without investigating the case, because you compare a routed hero to a victorious one; because you distinguish between one who left the field of glory to spend his time riotously in New York; because you think all good officers side with Juarez; because you think the Juarez policy is right; but you are mistaken, and you will see.

We are not for persons, and if Juarez and Ortega were contrasted they would both lose. Ortega did not desert the cause any more than Doblado, Berriozabal, Alvarez, and Pena Barragan; he left by permission, and did not return because he was ordered to be shot if he came back, like a traitor. As to the liberal chiefs, they all have indulgences from year to year. Canales, the most respectable, supports Ortega; so does Aureliano, Placido Vega, Huerta, Patoni, Quesada, Negrete, Tapia, Gomez, and many others; not excepting Cortinas, who joined Garza, the traitor. So you see, if discord is introduced, and rumor of it reaches the United States, it will ruin us.

The policy of the rector of San Ildefenso is to compromise with the traitors. He hates all reformers; he believes in nothing and respects nobody.

I do not mean to praise Ortega, or to create a disturbance; but I will support all who are struggling for independence. But we who are out of the country ought to know the truth, and unite with the most intelligent in the good cause. Ortega wants to go back and fight, to show that he has been slandered. For my part, when I get my family into a safe place, I will be ready to fight with Naranjo, Canales or any other, not caring who is President; only bent on mortal war against Frenchmen and traitors. Adieu. Write to me.

GUILLERMO PRIETO.

Direct your letters to some friend in Orleans, and get him to send them to me direct.

[Page 375]

THE REVOLUTION IN MEXICO.

To the Editor of the Herald:

In your issue of to-day you have published a letter signed “Guillermo Prieto,” and dated “San Antonio Bejar, May 11, 1866,” in which it is stated that General Gonzalez Ortega, together with Messrs. Huerta, Negrete, Patoni, and Berriozabal, will appear in the Mexican territory to give a new impulse, with large resources, to the defence of the republic, and “a full and legal representation to our principles,” says Mr. Prieto. As this gentleman is known to advocate the pretensions of General Gonzalez Ortega to the presidency of Mexico, the meaning of his quoted words is very plain. Now, in what concerns me personally, I have to say that Mr. Prieto’s statement is as false and groundless as the alliance of President Juarez and Santa Anna, to which he alludes. General Gonzalez Ortega and my friends residing in this country know full well my position in regard to the unlucky question raised by this general claiming the presidential chair; but some persons in Mexico might be induced into error by such loose assertions as Mr. Prieto’s, and that is the reason I request of you the publication of these lines. The only truth contained in the cited letter, so far as relates to me, is that I shall soon go to my country in order to continue fighting for its independence and republican institutions, but it will be under the authority of its national government, now sitting at Chihuahua, the only one I have to obey as a general of the republic.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

FELIPE B. BERRIOZABAL.

New York, August 16, 1866.

From P. Vega to Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, minister of relations and government

Chois, September 7, 1866.

On leaving San Franciseo, the 8th of July, I informed you and our minister in Washington that I was about to return to the republic, I came to Boca de las Piedras, in the Fuerte district, on the 7th of August last, intending to join the President, but I have been detained.

I take the liberty to send you a few copies of the proclamation I intend to make, and I hope you will approve of them.

Yours, &c.,

P. YEGA.

THE PROCLAMATION.

Fellow-Countrymen: Fate has been against me in the foreign commission intrusted to me by the supreme government of the republic; and I have thus been forced to absent myself from the seat of war, where, as a loyal Mexican, I was giving my best services to my country. But, thank Heaven, I am back upon the soil that gave me birth, and will have the gratification to offer myself a sacrifice in defence of the independence and liberty of my country.

While I was away I was rejoiced to hear you had saved the State from falling a prey to infamous invaders. Sinaloa has acted gloriously, and has distinguished herself. I congratulate citizen Rubi, our worthy governor, the indefatigable General Ramon Corona, the other chiefs and officers, and all of you, on your glorious victories, by which you have humbled the French; and I exhort you not to rest a single day, and you may be sure a happy time of peace and prosperity will come to bless our country. In my march to the interior of the republic I am attended by worthy chiefs, officers, and soldiers, many of whom distinguished themselves at the sieges of Puebla and Oaxaca. and other places. I have many strangers with me, who fought bravely for the cause of civilization and progress of the United States, and now come to us in accordance with the decree of the supreme government, issued in Monterey the 11th of August, 1864; and many good Mexicans follow me, anxious to serve their country. I am well supplied with arms, such as are now used in North America and England, and I invite you all who have no arms to join me and march where the first magistrate of the nation directs. Let your services be given in time, so that we may be the first to revel in the halls of the Montezumas.

Your friend and companion,

PLACIDO VEGA.

In the town of Zaragoza, August 15, 1866.

[Untitled]

Department of State, Branch of War and Navy.

By order of his majesty the emperor, I grant a safe conduct to Don Ignacio de la Peñay Barragan to pass freely, and with all safety, to live at the Hacienda del Hospital, near C uantla de Morelos; and the military authorities are charged not to prosecute him or molest [Page 376] him on account of his past political conduct. And for his protection the present is given to him, in the palace of Mexico, on the sixteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four.

JUAN DE D. PEZA.

[Untitled]

Monterey, August 26, 1865.

Sir: Don Guillermo Prieto wrote from San Antonio saying he was sorry for his conduct towards Genearl Gonzales Ortega, and asks permission to return here. He was directed to apply to Juarez for permission, and if it was obtained he would be allowed to return.

Yours, &c.,

_____ _____.

Mr.———, in Chihuahua.

No.	Date.	Contents.
	1865.
1	Dec. 26	First pamphlet published in New York by Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, containing his protest against the decrees of the 8th of November last, (December 21,) and his address to the nation on that subject, (December 26.)
	1866.
2	April 30	Circular of the department of foreign relations and government of the republic of Mexico in reply to the foregoing protest and address.
3	Mar. 10	Second pamphlet published in New York by Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, containing letters of the nine persons who are disposed to aid him in the effort to provoke sedition in Mexico.
4	April 4	Answer to the foregoing pamphlet, containing replies to Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega, by Mexicans residing in the United States, of whom he asked their opinion about the expediency of the decrees of the 8th of November, 1865.
5	June 30	Another replication to Don J. G. Ortega’s pamphlets, containing the opinion of several Mexicans now in armed defence of their country, in favor of the decrees of the 8th of November last.
6	June 7	Reply of the official paper of the Mexican republic to Don Jesus Gonzalez Ortega’s second pamphlet.
7	Sept. 14	Article from the official paper of the Mexican republic, containing various letters intercepted from Don Jesus G. Ortega and Don Guillermo Prieto.
8	Sept. 22	Article from the official paper containing documents on the same subject.

Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress

Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward

Index of documents sent by the Mexican legation in Washington to the Department of State of the United States, with the note of this date, relative to the conduct of Don Jesus Gonzalez de Ortega.

Decrees of Benito Juarez.

Ministry of external relations and government–Department of government–Section first.

Protest of the citizen Jesus G. Ortega, president of the supreme court of justice of the Mexican republic, against the decrees issued by Don Benito Juarez, on the 8th day of November, 1865.

The citizen Jesus G. Ortega, constitutional president of the supreme court of justice, to the Mexican nation.

Department of foreign relations and government–Government branch–Section first.

Department of Justice, Fomento, and Public Instruction–Section first.

Department of foreign relations and government–Government branch–Section first.

Department of foreign relations and government–Section first.

Department of foreign relations and government–Section first.

Documents relative to the coup détat of Benito Juarez, ex-President of the Republic of Mexico.

The constitutional President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Mexico.

From the constitutional governor of the State of Durango.

[Untitled]

From the ex constitutional governor of the State of Michoacan, republic of Mexico, general of division.

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Copy of resignation.]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

Supplement to the first pamphlet of documents published by General Gonzalez Ortega, to excite a rebellion among his countrymen against the national government of Mexico. (No. 6.)

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

Further data.

General Gonzalez Ortega and his nine indorsers versus the Mexican nation and the constitutional President of its unanimous choice, with an appendix, containing accompanying documents.

APPENDIX.

From General Garcia, governor of Vera Cruz and second in command of the eastern division, to President Juarez.

From the governor and military commandant of the State of Coahuila,

From the governor and military commander of the State of Sinaloa.

From the governor and military commander of the State of Sonora.

From Major General J. M. J. Carvajal, governor of the State of Tamaulipas.

From Major General de Regules, governor of the State of Michoacan and commander-in-chief of the central army.

From Colonel Don Gregoria Mendez, governor and military commander of the State of Tabasco, to President Juarez

Extract of a letter from the governor of Chiapas to the Mexican consul in San Francisco.

From General Diego Alvarez, governor of the State of Guerrero.

From the political chief of the Territory of Lower California to the Mexican consul in San Francisco

From Major General Ramon Corona, commanding in Sinaloa and Jalisco.

From Major General Juan Alvarez, Commander-in-chief of the southern military division.

From Señor Zarco to Señor Ortega.

From Señor Robert to Señor Gonzalez Ortega

Corrections in General Ortega’s publications.

Letters of Gonzalez Ortega, Santa Anna, and Prieto.

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

[Untitled]

Prieto’s letters.

From P. Vega to Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, minister of relations and government

[Untitled]

[Untitled]